Twitch bans people under the age of 15 from opening accounts in Türkiye

Twitch has made an important decision due to the new social media regulation in Turkey. Twitch, within the scope of the 15 age limit, new users under the age of 15 in Turkey will no longer be able to open an account on the platform. The company announced this decision through its official support account Twitch Support.

According to the statement, the new rule is valid as of October 29. For this reason, users under the age of 15 can no longer create a new Twitch account from Turkey.

TWITCH WILL ALSO CLOSE EXISTING ACCOUNTS UNDER THE AGE OF 15

The decision doesn't just affect new accounts. Twitch also announced that the accounts of existing users under the age of 15 in Turkey will be disabled in February 2027. In other words, the accounts of children using the platform today will remain open for a few more months, then will be closed.

The company explains how to verify the age of users in the age verification section of the help page. However, full details of the method to be applied for Türkiye have not been shared yet.

WHAT LAW IS THE DECISION BASED ON?

Twitch's decision is based on the social media regulation for under 15s introduced by Law No. 7578. The law was published in the Official Gazette on May 1, 2026. The social media age verification regulation, which determines the details of the application, was published on October 10 and comes into force on November 1, 2026.

According to the regulation, social network providers will not be able to provide services to children under the age of 15. Age verification will be made with a document created via e-Government. On the other hand, the compliance period for existing accounts expires on March 31, 2027 at the latest. Twitch plans to take action in February 2027 before this period expires.