Regulation on age verification on social media will come into force tomorrow

In the statement made by the Presidency, "The Regulation on Providing Children-Specific Services and Age Verification by Social Network Providers, which was prepared to ensure the safety of our children in digital environments and to enable them to benefit from services appropriate to their age, comes into force as of November 1, 2026." expressions were used.

It was stated that the regulation is based on preventing children under the age of 15 from accessing social network services, while children in the 15-18 age group receive services in a safer digital environment appropriate to their age and development level.

In this context, it was reported that social network providers are obliged to provide differentiated services specific to children, to implement high privacy and security standards and to make available parental control tools.

In the statement, the following was noted:

"Within the scope of the regulation, age verification has become mandatory for new accounts to be opened on social network platforms, while a transition period is provided until March 31, 2027 for the verification of existing accounts. Existing users will be able to complete the verification processes within this period. Age verification processes will be carried out through the age verification token to be created through the e-Government Gateway. In this process, the identity and personal information of the users will not be shared with the social network platforms, only information will be conveyed whether the relevant age thresholds are met.

Information regarding the technical operation of the application, the steps to be followed by users and the obligations of social network platforms will be shared gradually through the official communication channels of our Cyber Security Directorate and relevant social network platforms. Our citizens will be able to complete their transactions safely within the determined schedule by following the announcements. Only turkiye.gov.tr or the official e-Government mobile application should be used for age verification. Our citizens should only rely on the notifications made through the official applications of the relevant social network platforms and the announcements of the authorized institutions regarding the age verification process; "It is of great importance for the security of their personal information that they do not pay attention to messages and directions sent through different users, third-party applications or people, and never click on the links contained in these contents."

Age verification will only be done at "turkiye.gov.tr"

In the statement, it was emphasized that only "turkiye.gov.tr" or the official e-Government mobile application should be used for age verification.

Citizens were asked to take into account only the notifications made through the official applications of social networking platforms and the announcements of authorized institutions during the age verification process.

In the statement, it was stated that messages and directions from third parties should not be respected and the links in these contents should not be clicked, and e-Government passwords, SMS verification codes and bank and credit card information were warned not to be shared with any person, institution or platform.

It was noted that one should be careful against people who request fees, card information or passwords under the pretext of age verification via phone, message or fake websites.

In the statement, it was requested that suspicious websites and links that aim to mislead users by imitating the names and logos of public institutions be reported to the Presidency at "https://siberguvenlik.gov.tr/ihbar".