Turkiye: Grand National Assembly adopted Law on Amendments to Social Services Law and Certain Laws (Law No. 7578) including social network provider regulation

On 22 April 2026, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey adopted Law No. 7578 on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Laws, which amends Article 2 and Additional Article 4 of the Law on Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed Through Such Publications (Law No. 5651) and adds Additional Article 5 to that Law. The Law expands the supervisory and enforcement powers of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) over social network providers and establishes a new supervisory regime for a newly defined category of regulated entity, the game platform. Firstly, where social network providers fail to comply with the obligations under Article 22, the Law will authorise ICTA to ban Turkish-resident taxpayers from placing new advertising with the non-compliant provider 30 days after a fine notification, to apply to a magistrate court for bandwidth throttling of 50 % three months thereafter, and to apply for further throttling of up to 90 % 30 days after that. Secondly, the Law will require foreign game platforms with daily access from Turkey exceeding 100'000 users to designate a representative in Turkey, whether a natural or legal person, to handle communications from authorities and the courts, and to publish the representative's contact details on the platform. Thirdly, the Law will authorise ICTA to require game platforms to disclose information on corporate structure, information systems, and data processing mechanisms within fifteen days. Fourthly, the Law will authorise ICTA to impose administrative fines on non-compliant game platforms ranging from TRY 1 million to TRY 10 million, escalating to TRY 10 million to TRY 30 million for continued non-compliance, and to apply to a magistrate court for bandwidth throttling of 30 % escalating to up to 50 %. Fifthly, the Law will authorise ICTA to issue a regulation establishing the procedural rules and substantive criteria for the game rating regime. Articles 21, 22 and 23 of the Law will enter into force six months after publication in the Official Gazette.