Recent amendments have been introduced to Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Broadcasts via the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed Through Such Broadcasts (Law No. 5651) through the Law on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Laws, which was published on 1 May 2026. For the first time under Turkish legislation, the concepts of game platform, game distributor, and game developer have been expressly defined. In addition, new online safety obligations have been imposed on social network providers.
These amendments will enter into force six months after publication, on 1 November 2026.
Game Platforms
The following key operational obligations have been introduced for game platforms, game distributors, and game developers:
- Age-Rating: Game platforms are required to properly age-rate games. Games that have not been age-rated may only be offered under the highest age category, while games that are not duly age-rated are subject to removal from the platform.
- Local Representative: Foreign-based game platforms with daily access from Türkiye exceeding 100,000 must appoint a local representative, either an individual or a legal entity, resident in Türkiye. Such appointment must be notified to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA), and the representative’s contact information must be published on the relevant platform’s website.
- Parental Control Mechanisms: Game platforms must provide easy-to-use parental control tools enabling management of account settings and paid
- Information Requests: Game platforms must respond to ICTA’s information requests relating to matters within the scope of Law No. 5651, including their corporate structures, information systems, and data processing mechanisms, within 15 days following notification of the relevant request.
Failure to comply with these obligations may result in administrative fines ranging from TRY 1 million to TRY 10 million. If the violation persists, administrative fines ranging from TRY 10 million to TRY 30 million may be imposed. Continued non-compliance despite the second administrative fine may lead to additional sanctions, including bandwidth throttling.
Social Network Providers
The following principal obligations have been imposed on social network providers:
- Age Restriction: Social network providers may not provide services to children under the age of 15 and must implement age-verification systems to enforce this
- Differentiated Services for Children: Providers must offer age-appropriate and differentiated services for children aged 15 and above.
- Parental Control Mechanisms: Providers are required to make available easy-to-use parental control tools enabling the management of account settings, paid transactions, and usage-time limitations.
- Transparency: Providers must publish on their websites the measures adopted
to comply with the new obligations.
- Deceptive Advertising: Providers must take appropriate measures to prevent deceptive advertising.
- Additional Obligations for Large-Scale Platforms: Social network providers with daily access from Türkiye exceeding 10 million users must comply with additional obligations, including the immediate removal of relevant content, and in any event within one hour, upon a decision of the President of ICTA in cases where delay would be prejudicial. Such providers must also ensure that the removed content is not republished.
Failure to comply with these obligations may result in administrative fines. If non-compliance continues following the imposition of an administrative fine, an advertising ban may be imposed, prohibiting taxpayers resident in Türkiye from placing new advertisements with the relevant social network provider. Continued non-compliance may further give rise to technical measures, including bandwidth throttling.
The detailed principles and procedures governing these obligations will be set out in secondary regulations to be issued by ICTA.
© Kolcuoğlu Demirkan Koçaklı Attorneys at Law 2020
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
