Turkiye joins global push to shield children from harmful online content

LONDON: Turkiye has become the latest country to restrict children’s access to social media, passing legislation this week that prevents under-15s from opening accounts on major platforms and requires stricter controls on harmful content.

The bill, now awaiting final approval from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reflects a wider worldwide rethink about the ways in which digital platforms, originally designed for adults, now shape young lives.

Governments in capitals from Oslo to Jakarta are taking action as evidence mounts that unregulated online spaces expose children to threats such as cyberbullying, pornography, scams, addiction and extremist materials.

On Friday, Norway said it would present a bill in parliament by the end of this year that would ban children under the age of 16 from using social media.

Australia, which in December last year became the first country to introduce such a measure, has already begun to enforce social-media restrictions on under-16s, and Indonesia blocks minors from accessing platforms linked to harmful content.

In Europe, Spain, France and the UK are mulling similar measures amid growing parental alarm over the amount of time children spend staring at screens and the effects of this on mental health.

The new Turkish legislation comes after a 14-year-old boy shot and killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkiye, last week in an attack that also claimed his life. Police are examining his online activity in an attempt to determine his motive.

“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,” Erdogan said in a televised address this week in the wake of the school shooting.

The bill will force social media platforms to put in place age-verification systems, provide parental-control tools, and requires companies to rapidly respond to any content deemed harmful, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Arab countries have been slower to adopt sweeping bans but concerns about digital safety are gaining prominence on regional agendas.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have rolled out parental-control mandates and content-filtering rules, often focusing on morality, cyberbullying and national security rather than age-based bans.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has also pushed for cross-border cooperation on the protection of children online, through initiatives that aim to raise awareness and provide training across the region.

Egypt and Jordan, meanwhile, have focused on school-based digital literacy programs, while Lebanon has debated but not yet passed comprehensive social media restrictions on use by minors.

The online game platform Roblox has become a particular focus of regional concern. Highly popular among young users, it has faced outright bans in several Arab countries including Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Algeria, with authorities citing insufficient child-protection tools and the risk of sexual harassment, fraud and inappropriate content as the reasons for the decision.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE stopped short of a total ban and instead imposed strict controls, as a result of which Roblox has disabled chat features and rolled out tighter age-based measures in coordination with local regulators.

Some countries, such as Jordan and Kuwait, lifted their bans after Roblox strengthened its moderation efforts, but the action taken in several countries shows that gaming platforms are increasingly under scrutiny alongside the social media giants.

YouTube ‌said in a statement on Friday it has been investing in children’s safety for more than a decade to ensure its platforms deliver age-appropriate experiences that also empower parents.

“That way, we preserve access to learning for millions and avoid pushing young people onto less safe places on the internet,” it said.

Supporters of restrictions argue that platforms have failed to self-regulate and children now spend hours each day on apps optimized for engagement, not safety. Studies have linked excessive screen time to anxiety, sleep disruption and vulnerability to predators.

But critics of legal controls have warned that the introduction of heavy-handed laws risk overreach. The opposition in Turkiye, for example, called for “rights-based policies” rather than bans.

In the Arab world, the concern is that overregulation might simply sweep the problem under the carpet, pushing children toward less visible but equally risky digital spaces, rather than address the root causes.

“Regulation is important but awareness, smart supervision and teaching safe usage matter more than complete bans,” Saudi content creator Khaled Olyan argued in a recent interview with Arab News.

Yet the momentum around the world right now is clear, and as Norway, Turkiye and other countries continue to draw lines, Arab policymakers are facing growing parental pressure to act.

The question, therefore, is whether the regional approaches will seek to prioritize genuine protections and digital literacy efforts, or simply rely on the broader strategy of bans.