Turkey plans to ban children under 16 from using social media
This statement was made by the country's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, in an interview with the TV channel.
The minister emphasized that children are the most vulnerable group requiring special attention. However, social media is actively used not only by children and teenagers but by society as a whole. Various regulations on this issue exist worldwide. The main goal is to protect children until they reach an age where they can make objective decisions.
"In the world, age restrictions of 13 and 16 years are being considered. We also want our children under 16 to have no access to social media. In 2025, we have plans to adopt the relevant law. We will also include gaming platforms in the regulation, but this does not mean we will ban useful games," he said.
According to him, children will not be able to create social media accounts.
"In some countries, such accounts can be registered with parental permission, but we do not support this practice. We want to completely ban access to social media for individuals under 16," the minister explained.
Uraloglu also commented on the blocking of the online game Roblox and the Discord application in the country.
"Gaming platforms did not have official representatives in Turkey. However, after we imposed legal sanctions, they reached out to us. If a platform contains useful content, developers must remove harmful elements, and then we can consider allowing them to resume operations," he noted.
Negotiations are currently underway, and if they yield the desired results, a legal decision may be made to reopen these platforms, the minister emphasized.
16 yaş altına sosyal medya yasaklanacak mı? Bakan Uraloğlu CNN TÜRK'te açıklıyor https://t.co/gCKiF8vegW pic.twitter.com/ICkZB7GBHf
— CNN TÜRK (@cnnturk) January 30, 2025
He also pointed out that Turkey faces challenges in regulating social media. Some platforms refuse to comply with Turkish authorities' requirements, citing the laws of the countries where they are registered. However, many countries around the world are already imposing fines on such companies. Turkey plans to introduce similar measures in the near future.