New Regulations for the Gaming Sector: Draft Law Submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly

On March 4, 2026, a Draft Law on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Other Laws (the “Draft Law”) was submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The Draft Law proposes amendments to several legislations, including Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed through Such Publications (“Law No. 5651”). The amendments concerning Law No. 5651 are envisaged to enter into force six months after the date of publication of the law.

The Draft Law aims not only to clarify the responsibilities of existing social network providers, but also to bring within the scope of regulation certain actors whose legal status is being defined in the legislation for the first time, thereby establishing a comprehensive protection framework across the entire digital ecosystem with a particular focus on safeguarding children.

 New Definitions for the Gaming Sector

 The Draft Law introduces definitions for the concepts of game, game provider and game distributor:

• Game refers to digital games that are distributed, played or updated over the internet.
• Game provider refers to natural or legal persons who develop games or in-game components.
• Game distributor refers to natural or legal persons who enable the distribution or playing of games.

Age Restrictions and Parental Control Tools

Under Law No. 5651, social network providers are defined as “natural or legal persons that enable users to create, view or share content such as text, images, audio or location data over the internet for the purpose of social interaction.” The Draft Law introduces a prohibition on social network providers from offering services to children under the age of 15 and imposes an obligation on such providers to take the necessary measures, including age verification, to ensure the effective implementation of this restriction. For children who have reached the age of 15, it is mandated that services be provided separately from those offered to adults, in a safe, child-specific and segregated manner. It is also envisaged that the measures taken be published on the social network provider’s own website.

The Draft Law further imposes an obligation on social network providers to provide clear, understandable and user-friendly parental control tools, which must include mechanisms enabling the control of account settings, the subjecting of paid transactions such as purchases, rentals and paid memberships to parental consent or approval, and the monitoring and limitation of usage time.

Game providers are required to classify games according to age criteria.

Under the Draft Law, game distributors may not offer games that have not been duly classified; however, they may offer games that have not been classified by the game provider, provided that such games are classified in accordance with the highest age rating. Game distributors are also required to provide clear, understandable and user-friendly parental control tools, which must include mechanisms enabling the control of account settings and the subjecting of paid transactions such as purchases, rentals and paid memberships to parental consent or approval.

Foreign Game Distributors

The Draft Law introduces an obligation for foreign-based game distributors with daily access exceeding 100,000 from Turkey to appoint a natural or legal person representative in Turkey. It is also required that the representative’s information be notified to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (“ICTA”) and that the representative’s contact details be made easily visible and directly accessible on the website.

Sanctions

The Draft Law provides for a gradual enforcement mechanism initiated by a notification by ICTA.

Depending on the nature of the violation and whether it is remedied in due time, social network providers and game distributors may be subject to bandwidth throttling measures ranging from 50% to 90%; in addition, depending on the nature of the violation and whether it is remedied in due time, game distributors may also be subject to administrative fines of up to TRY 30,000,000.