Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş answered the questions of journalists after the cabinet meeting held in Beştepe last night. Göktaş's agenda included "social media ban under the age of 15" and "funding investigation".
FUND INVESTIGATION
Minister Göktaş also made evaluations regarding the allegations of New Party İzmir Deputy Ümit Özlale within the scope of the fund investigation.
Göktaş said:
"They ask, 'How did you get this information so quickly?' Ümit Özlale gave a file number at the press conference and slandered that it belonged to my father. I could only confirm whether the file belonged to my father or not through the file number he announced.
The real question to ask is this; While I had access to limited information even to verify an allegation against my family, where and how did they access this information, including the numbers of the investigation files? “How did they access information that I could not access?”
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITING
Göktaş said that everything is clearly stated in the directive regarding the social media regulation prepared for children under the age of 15, and in this context, there will be a verification system through e-Government for children under the age of 15.
Stating that within the scope of the regulation, there will be a period of compliance with the temporary provision until March 31, 2027, Göktaş said, "After this date, we will switch to the verification system. After that, they will be able to log in with the 'tokens' we provide." he said.
Pointing out that there are important points between the ages of 15-18, Minister Göktaş said, "For example, there will be no certain applications. There will be no screen scrolling or constant scrolling, which constitutes the element of screen addiction. In addition, screen recording will not be possible and they will not be able to open live broadcasts. In addition, regulations have been introduced such as allowing the child to send messages only to accounts he/she follows and turning off the seen information." he said.
Minister Göktaş stated that with this regulation, they protected children up to the age of 18 from the social media environment.
Noting that the regulation is clearer than other countries, Göktaş continued as follows:
"Because we have a strong system like e-Government. According to the new regulation, users who want to open an account on social media platforms for the first time will be directed to the e-Government system for age verification. The user will receive a digital code that verifies the information regarding his age through e-Government. Through this code, he will be able to create an account on the social media platform by completing the age verification process. Age verification will not be limited to account opening only. Social media platforms will continue to estimate the ages of users with their own technological methods and make the necessary checks while the service delivery continues."
"If there is suspicion that an account is being used by a child under the age of 15, the platform will temporarily suspend the account in question and direct the user to verify age again via e-Government." Minister Göktaş stated, "Thus, in order to protect children from risks in the social media environment, a two-stage and continuous age verification mechanism will be implemented both during account opening and during the usage process." he said.
DOUBLE-SIDED CONTROL MECHANISM
Underlining that there will be a double-sided control mechanism in the regulation, Göktaş said, "Let's say the child enters with his father's and mother's account. Social media platforms will also be able to redirect from time to time. In other words, they will control it on the one hand, and we will control it on the other. Our aim here is to provide the control at the maximum level. We do not just entrust it to social media platforms, we control it ourselves. The data will be generated entirely through e-government." he said.
FAMILIES' REQUEST WAS TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION
Emphasizing that it is the request of families to remove features such as constant scrolling and screen scrolling, which create screen addiction in children, Göktaş said:
"It will come into force as of November 1, but we are going through a natural adaptation process. We are giving an adaptation period with a temporary provision until March 31, 2027. We have strictly informed these social media platforms. Here, we want to protect children and especially keep them away from addictive structures. At the design stage, we want to create a 'child-friendly ecosystem' structure. Because, for example, there was no screen scrolling at the beginning. They were developed later. There was no rewinding. Algorithms, for example... It is also part of our regulation that children are not exposed to constant advertising."
Göktaş stated that everything is clearly stated in the regulation and said that only users who confirm that they are over 15 years of age through e-Government can open an account on social media.
