Legislation prohibits social media companies from offering services to under-15s, while a new law is also being drafted requiring identification verification for all Turkish social media users.
Hamdi Firat Buyuk
The Turkish parliament adopted a law on Wednesday that bans social media for children under 15 years old – making Turkey the latest country to adopt such a move aimed at protecting young people from online harms.
“A social network provider will not be allowed to provide services to children who have not reached the age of 15 and will be required to take the necessary measures, including age verification, to ensure that such services are not provided,” the new law said.
The law also introduces new requirements for social media companies for children above 15 years old.
“It [a provider of a social network] will take the necessary measures to provide differentiated services specific to children who have reached the age of 15. The measures taken within this scope will be published on the social network provider’s own website. The social network provider will provide clear, understandable, and user friendly parental control tools,” the new law added.
However, it is still not clear how the ban will be implemented in practice.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek told parliament that a separate law will be introduced to regulate it.
“A draft has also been prepared regarding the legal regulation that envisages identity verification via e-government when logging into social media platforms,” Gurlek said.
According to Gurlek, the draft law will require users to verify their identity and age using e-government systems.
Gurlek previously announced, on April 3, that the government had reached an agreement with social media companies that all Turkish citizens will have to verify their identity to use social media accounts.
Critics say that the proposed law aims to increase controls on social media and that ending anonymity could affect dissenting voices online.
Further details of this verification system and how social media companies will incorporate it into their products is also still unknown.
The new law banning social media for children under 15 was proposed in a report entitled “Threats and Risks Awaiting Our Children in Digital Media”, prepared by a parliamentary commission.
The report called for a child-centred oversight framework that addresses digital addiction, cyberbullying, exploitation and privacy violations through early intervention, public awareness, parental remedies and specialised child rights-focused enforcement units at national and international levels.
