Turkey's ruling party submits bill to ban social media for under-15s

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party submitted to parliament on Wednesday a draft bill that would ban social media access for children younger than 15.

With the bill, Turkey is following the example of Australia, several European countries and others which have adopted or are considering similar restrictions, amid mounting concerns over the impact of social media on children's health and safety.

The Turkish bill would require social media providers to set up age‑verification systems and to offer parental control tools to ensure the safety of children in the digital world.

Children over the age of 15 will be provided with separate safe services, and harmful content will be removed within one hour in emergency situations, according to the bill.

Non-compliance with the legislation could trigger fines of up to 3% of a company's global revenue or bandwidth restrictions.

Foreign online game distributors will also face new requirements, incuding age-rating their games.

The AKP's Parliamentary Group Deputy Head, Leyla Sahin Usta, said social media and gaming platforms would have six months to comply with the law.

Turkey already regulates social media companies heavily and is quick to impose takedowns and access bans. It currently bans access to 1.2 million web pages and social media posts, according to a report by local censorship watchdog IFOD.

-Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones/Reuters