Turkey has banned children under 15 from using social media. The country’s government formally published the law on Saturday. It will take effect on 1 November. Turkey has taken the step amid moves around the world to tighten age limits on the use of social media.
The bill was passed in Turkey’s parliament in April. Under the new law, the platforms concerned must take the necessary technical and administrative measures to stop children under 15 getting on to social media, among them a system for verifying a user’s age. Article 7 of the law says an age-verification system will be introduced using a government-issued “token”.
The law also places restrictions for teenagers over 15. They may not be offered any service that can create addiction.
Turkey has a record of imposing strict curbs on social media. Its government has at various times closed the personal accounts of news outlets and rights activists. Sometimes access to an entire platform has been blocked.
In 2024 Ankara shut down Meta-owned Instagram for a week, accusing it of censoring posts in memory of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after his death. Last week, too, the Turkish authorities shut down a news website and its social media accounts on the basis of a court complaint concerning “LGBT propaganda”. Various organisations working on human rights and media freedom expressed anger at that.
A 2025 report by the US-based research organisation Freedom House described Turkey’s internet as “not free”.
Turkey is not alone in tightening age limits on children’s use of social media. Several countries, among them Australia and Indonesia, have brought in restrictions of this kind or are considering doing so.
In September the European Union (EU) presented a legislative proposal to restrict the use of social media and video-sharing platforms until children are 15. The move followed months of pressure on the matter from EU leaders.
Austria, Denmark, France, Greece and Spain are also taking forward moves to pass national laws limiting children’s use of social media. The United Kingdom is thought likely to bring in such a ban next year. Canada has also presented a bill to restrict social media use by those under 16.
Source: Politico Europe
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report