Türkiye formally banned social media access for children under the age of 15 on October 10, with the law set to take effect November 1. The law was published following the Turkish Parliament’s adoption of the bill last April.
Under the law, social media platforms must “take the necessary technical and administrative measures, including age verification,” to implement the restrictions. The age verification system will work with a government-issued “token,” according to Article 7 of the law. The law also bars platforms from offering minors over 15 services that could have “an addictive effect.”
As POLITICO reported, Türkiye has a history of imposing restrictions on social media services, including temporary bans on individual accounts from media outlets and activists, and full platform blackouts. Ankara banned Instagram for a week in 2024 after accusing the Meta-owned platform of censoring users mourning Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Earlier this month, Türkiye blocked a news website and its social media accounts over what a court deemed “LGBT propaganda.” A 2025 report from the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House described Türkiye’s internet as “not free.”
The ban places Türkiye among a growing number of countries tightening youth access to social media, though the path has not been uniform. France’s Constitutional Council struck down a similar under-15 ban in August, ruling that the measure’s age-verification requirements lacked adequate privacy safeguards and disproportionately infringed on freedom of expression. President Emmanuel Macron has tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with rewriting the law before France’s spring 2027 presidential election.
The European Commission has since proposed a bloc-wide alternative: a ban on social media for children under 13, with 13-to-15-year-olds restricted to parent-supervised “mini accounts” rather than a blanket cutoff, a structure officials say is designed partly to withstand the kind of legal challenge that defeated France’s law. That proposal, part of a broader EU Kids Act unveiled by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on September 16, still requires extensive debate among member states, with 17 of the EU’s 27 countries already negotiating their own national rules in the meantime.
Australia and Indonesia are also enforcing or developing tougher age thresholds, and Austria, Denmark, Greece and Spain are pursuing national legislation. The UK is expected to introduce a ban next year, and Canada has presented a bill restricting access for children under 16.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Türkiye formally banned social media access for children under the age of 15 on October 10, with the law set to take effect November 1. The law was published following the Turkish Parliament’s adoption of the bill last April.
Under the law, social media platforms must “take the necessary technical and administrative measures, including age verification,” to implement the restrictions. The age verification system will work with a government-issued “token,” according to Article 7 of the law. The law also bars platforms from offering minors over 15 services that could have “an addictive effect.”
As POLITICO reported, Türkiye has a history of imposing restrictions on social media services, including temporary bans on individual accounts from media outlets and activists, and full platform blackouts. Ankara banned Instagram for a week in 2024 after accusing the Meta-owned platform of censoring users mourning Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Earlier this month, Türkiye blocked a news website and its social media accounts over what a court deemed “LGBT propaganda.” A 2025 report from the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House described Türkiye’s internet as “not free.”
The ban places Türkiye among a growing number of countries tightening youth access to social media, though the path has not been uniform. France’s Constitutional Council struck down a similar under-15 ban in August, ruling that the measure’s age-verification requirements lacked adequate privacy safeguards and disproportionately infringed on freedom of expression. President Emmanuel Macron has tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with rewriting the law before France’s spring 2027 presidential election.
The European Commission has since proposed a bloc-wide alternative: a ban on social media for children under 13, with 13-to-15-year-olds restricted to parent-supervised “mini accounts” rather than a blanket cutoff, a structure officials say is designed partly to withstand the kind of legal challenge that defeated France’s law. That proposal, part of a broader EU Kids Act unveiled by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on September 16, still requires extensive debate among member states, with 17 of the EU’s 27 countries already negotiating their own national rules in the meantime.
Australia and Indonesia are also enforcing or developing tougher age thresholds, and Austria, Denmark, Greece and Spain are pursuing national legislation. The UK is expected to introduce a ban next year, and Canada has presented a bill restricting access for children under 16.
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