Story perspectives

Turkey Bars Under-15s from Social Media, Enforces Age Checks

4/24/2026

Summary

Turkey Bans Kids

Turkey's parliament passed a law on April 23, 2026 that bans children under 15 from creating social-media accounts.
The law forces platforms to add age-verification and parental-control tools, and imposes fines and regulator restrictions if they do not act quickly on harmful content.
Opposition parties argue that child protection should rely on human-rights-based policies rather than bans, noting Turkey joins nations such as Portugal with similar rules.

Summary

Turkey Enforces ID

The government secured an agreement that all Turkish citizens must verify their identity via e-government to access any social-media account.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said a draft law will regulate e-government identity verification for logins while critics warn the loss of anonymity could suppress dissent and limit free-speech.
The legislation creates child-rights enforcement units at national and international levels and requires providers to publish age-verification and parental-control measures, though unclear.

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Turkey Bans Kids

Turkey's parliament passed a law on April 23, 2026 that bans children under 15 from creating social-media accounts.
The law forces platforms to add age-verification and parental-control tools, and imposes fines and regulator restrictions if they do not act quickly on harmful content.
Opposition parties argue that child protection should rely on human-rights-based policies rather than bans, noting Turkey joins nations such as Portugal with similar rules.

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