Turkey has banned access to social media for children under the age of 15. The law was published on October 10 after the countryʼs parliament passed it in April. The new rules will come into effect on November 1.
This is reported by Politico.
The law obliges social platforms to implement measures to verify the age of users. This will be done using a special digital token issued by the state.
For teenagers aged 15 and over, the law also imposes restrictions: platforms will not offer them services that may cause addiction.
Turkey has previously imposed restrictions on the internet. In 2024, authorities blocked Instagram, owned by Meta, for a week amid accusations that it censored posts about the death of Hamas leader Ismail Ganiya.
Mass ban on social media for children around the world
In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under the age of 16. The countryʼs authorities explained their decision by saying that social media can harm children, for example, affecting their physical and mental health.
In January, France supported in the first reading a bill to ban social media for children under 15. The bill will then be considered by the Senate (the upper house of parliament) — if it makes any changes, the document will be voted on again in the National Assembly.
The UK and Spain also want to ban social media for children under 16, Greece will introduce such a ban next year. And Ireland has launched a test phase of a digital wallet with an age verification function, which should limit teenagersʼ access to social media.
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