The report comes as President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party is expected to submit draft legislation soon, while Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas said last month the bill would include a social media ban for minors and require providers to implement content-filtering systems.

Meanwhile internationally, similar efforts are gaining momentum.

Australia in December became the world’s first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook.

Spain has proposed prohibiting social media use for those under 16, while Greece and Slovenia are working on comparable bans, and France, Britain and Germany are also considering restrictions for minors.

Turning back to Turkey’s proposed measures, the report outlines additional controls.

Recommendations include removing certain content without prior notice, monitoring video games and AI-enabled toys used by children for harmful material, mandatory content filtering until age 18 and a social media ban until age 16.

The report also proposes night-time internet restrictions on devices used by minors under 18.

"We need to protect our kids from moral erosion. We aim to protect our children from all types of addictions, including digital ones," Harun Mertoglu, senior AKP lawmaker and a member of parliament's human rights enquiry committee, told Reuters.

Public reaction reflects both support and concern.

Some parents back tighter controls, including shopkeeper Belma Kececioglu, who said her 10-year-old spends hours on social media and gaming.

"It is like all the kids are social media addicts. We are already troubled by this and it gets even worse with harmful content," Kececioglu said, as her son played a game on his phone after school.

However, technology firms warn of practical challenges.

Social media companies say bans on minors may be undermined by weak age-verification technology and could push children toward unregulated platforms.

More broadly, Turkey already maintains strict digital regulations.

Authorities frequently impose takedowns and access bans, with 1.2 million web pages and social media posts blocked as of the end of 2024, according to local censorship watchdog IFOD.

Current rules require companies to process official or user removal requests within two days and largely comply with takedown demands, with non-compliant firms facing advertising bans, bandwidth restrictions and fines of up to 3% of global revenue.

Recent enforcement actions highlight this regulatory stance.

Gaming platform Roblox, Discord and story-sharing site Wattpad have been banned in Turkey since 2024, while Wikipedia was previously blocked for around three years.