Law No. 7578 amending Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed by Means of Such Publications (“Internet Law”), published in the Official Gazette on May 1, 2026, introduces new obligations for gaming platforms and social network providers, which become applicable on November 1, 2026. On the same date, the Regulation on the Provision of Segregated Services Specific to Children and Age Verification by Social Network Providers (“Regulation”) also enters into force.

The new obligations apply to gaming platforms (natural or legal persons who provide the software or technical infrastructure for the display, sale, distribution, downloading or playing of digital games and related additional content over the internet, and who enable or coordinate users’ access to games or content, license management or interaction between users) and social network providers (natural or legal persons who enable users to create, view or share content such as text, images, audio and location in the internet environment for the purpose of social interaction) whether established in Türkiye or abroad. Therefore, with only weeks left, platforms offering services to users in Türkiye should finalize their compliance steps now.

GAMING PLATFORMS

Local Representative Requirement

Foreign gaming platforms with more than 100,000 daily accesses from Türkiye must appoint a local representative in Türkiye, who may be a natural or legal person, and notify the representative’s details to the Cybersecurity Presidency (“Presidency”).

The representative’s contact details must also be published clearly on the platform’s website. The representative will be responsible for responding to notifications and requests from the Presidency, the Access Providers Association, and judicial and administrative authorities.

Key Obligations

  • Age rating: Games that are not rated in line with the applicable rules may only be offered with the highest age rating, and non-rated content must be removed.
  • Parental controls: Clear and user-friendly tools must allow parents to manage account settings and approve all paid transactions, including in-game purchases, rentals and paid memberships.
  • Information requests: Platforms must provide information requested by the Presidency within the period it sets (no longer than 15 days).

Risks of Non-Compliance

Non-compliance may result in administrative fines of up to TRY 30 million (approx. USD 600,000) and, if it continues, bandwidth throttling of up to 50%, which would significantly disrupt access to the platform for users in Türkiye.

 

SOCIAL NETWORK PROVIDERS

Key Obligations

  • Ban on users under 15 and age verification: Social network providers may not provide services to children under 15 and must verify users’ age through an age verification token generated via e-Government. All existing accounts must be verified at least once by March 31, 2027.
  • Segregated services for children aged 15 and above: Services offered to children must be tailored to them, with private accounts by default and no profiling or personalized advertising.
  • Parental controls: Tools must allow parents to manage account settings, approve paid transactions, and monitor and limit usage time.

For a detailed overview of these obligations, please see our article on the Regulation.

Risks of Non-Compliance

Non-compliance may result in administrative fines of up to 3% of global turnover, an advertising ban and, if it continues, bandwidth throttling of up to 90%.

 

NEXT STEPS

We recommend that gaming platforms and social network providers assess whether they exceed the relevant daily access thresholds, appoint a local representative where required, and review their age verification, age rating, parental control and child-specific service mechanisms before November 1, 2026.

For further details on gaming platforms, please see our previous article, New Regulatory Framework on Digital Games in Türkiye.