A bill on restricting access to social media platforms was passed by Turkish lawmakers late Wednesday after long deliberations.
The bill bans children under the age of 15 from entering social media while tasking companies to set up safe online spaces for them. For experts, it is a regulation of the digital world that becomes increasingly dangerous for children, rather than censorship.
The new law put Türkiye on the map of countries seeking ways to protect the impressionable young people from online risks, from radicalization to fraud, sexual abuse and cyberbullying. The law has been on the agenda of lawmakers for some time now, but two school shootings earlier this month appear to be fast-tracking its passing.
The second school shooting in the province of Kahramanmaraş by a 14-year-old boy sparked a debate about social media. In the aftermath of the attack that killed 10 people, a barrage of online threats against schools was uncovered, and security forces found out that those behind the threats were mostly underage. The perpetrator’s reported online activity linking him to manipulative content promoting violence has also raised concerns.
Türkiye abstained from using the term “ban” for children, but the bill rather refers to the move as creating safe digital spaces for children under the age of 15. An age verification system will be introduced to prevent children’s access to inappropriate content. Social media companies will be tasked with informing users of the restrictions. They will also be mandated to provide clear, user-friendly parental control tools. These tools will include management of accounts (of children), parental permission for subscription-based processes, purchases or rentals, as well as monitoring usage time and options to restrict screen time for children. Social media companies will also be mandated to prevent deceptive ads. Companies with more than 10 million daily accesses from Türkiye will be required to comply with the authorities’ order to take measures against social media accounts within one hour.
Separately, the bill requires gaming platforms to sell or host unrated games or mandate hosting them at the highest age limit.
The law is expected to be given final approval by the president within 15 days. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already announced that they would take measures to mitigate the online risks to children’s safety and privacy, in remarks in the wake of school shootings.
"We are living in a period where some digital sharing applications are corrupting our children's minds and social media platforms have, to put it bluntly, become cesspools," he said after a recent Cabinet meeting.
Australia was the first country to introduce restrictions on social media access for children under 16 last December. The restrictions led social media companies to revoke access to more than 4 million accounts. In March, Indonesia followed suit, while Spain, France and the United Kingdom are working on measures to restrict social media access to children.
Experts say new regulations would help children’s safer growth and have a healthier digital environment but urged more measures by tackling the matter through multiple aspects. Professor Selman Tunay Kamer, an education sciences expert from Kastamonu University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that social media grew beyond being merely a tool for access to entertainment and news. Kamer pointed out that regulations to protect children from harmful online content were becoming widespread in the world. On the age verification system and potential security risks, Kamer noted that age verification systems do not provide all information belonging to the user to social media companies.
“This is a regulation to help our children to live in a safer, cleaner society, to learn digitalization properly. I hope it will bring about a good outcome,” he said.
Associate professor Sadettin Burak Açıkel, a children’s mental health expert from Ankara University’s Faculty of Medicine, said children below the age of 15 are still maturing in terms of instinct control and identity development. “The regulation is an important step to provide a protective barrier for them until they reach an age where they are ready in terms of development,” he said.
Açıkel added that the regulation was also significant for protecting children’s mental health, but alone, it was not an absolute solution. “If it is not supported with policies supporting families, psycho-social programs at schools and introduction of safe digital spaces, it will only make the problem invisible. When implemented properly, it will be a serious initiation to the digital world for children. Risks stemming from social media use can only be prevented by a holistic, protective approach to mental health and risk analysis. Another important instrument in this field is enhancing children’s digital literacy skills,” Açıkel stated.
Professor Bengi Semerci, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that problematic use of social media among children and adolescents was a cause of concern that may trigger physiological and psychological problems. She noted that social media restrictions would not be an all-encompassing solution and a multi-faceted approach is needed to address the matter.
“Families and schools have tasks too. The family should not be merely (a mechanism of) control. They should implement rules for children and explain them well. Parents’ role is a factor in reducing problematic social media usage among children, according to findings of some surveys. The schools can raise awareness by introducing policies for the correct usage of smartphones, through digital literacy classes and education on cyberbullying. Implementing protective policies may be more beneficial in the long run than outright bans,” she said.
