Turkey’s plan to require social media users to verify their ages through a government-run identity system poses significant risks to online anonymity and people who criticize the government, Freedom House warned in a report released Thursday.
The Washington-based democracy watchdog said Turkey’s proposed age-verification framework would effectively link social media accounts to users’ real identities through e-Devlet, the country’s government-run digital identity portal, potentially exposing people who rely on anonymity to express political opinions.
In its Freedom on the Net 2026: Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet report, Freedom House pointed to Turkey’s record of prosecuting people over their online expression, particularly criticism of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as a reason for concern about the proposed system.
The organization warned that identification requirements could enable governments to establish records connecting individuals to their online activities, creating opportunities for surveillance and discouraging people from expressing themselves freely.
Turkey’s parliament passed legislation in April prohibiting children under 15 from using social media and requiring platforms to introduce age-verification systems, with the restrictions scheduled to take effect on November 1.
Since then, Turkish authorities have taken further steps to implement the measures.
Regulations published on October 10 require social media users to verify their ages through e-Devlet when creating accounts, beginning November 1. Existing accounts must undergo verification by March 31, 2027.
Under the regulations, users must verify their ages through e-Devlet, the government’s online services portal, to obtain a digital token indicating whether they are under 15, between 15 and 17 or 18 and older. Children under 15 will be barred from using social media, while those aged 15 to 17 will be subject to additional restrictions.
The regulations specify that the token must not contain names, usernames or other identifying information, meaning that platforms will not receive users’ personal identities through the age-verification process.
Freedom House’s assessment concerned the framework proposed before those regulations were issued. The organization did not separately evaluate the privacy safeguards included in the October rules.
The government says the age restrictions are intended to protect children from harmful content, online exploitation and excessive social media use.
Separately, the government has been pursuing broader identity-verification requirements that would link social media accounts to national identification numbers.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said in September that the proposed system would allow authorities to identify users suspected of committing crimes online while permitting them to continue posting under pseudonyms.
Gürlek said personal identification information would remain within government systems rather than being shared with social media platforms and would be disclosed to prosecutors or courts only in investigations involving specified offenses.
Digital rights advocates have warned that such a system could discourage anonymous political expression by making users aware that authorities could identify them.
The proposals come amid extensive restrictions on online expression in Turkey, where authorities regularly seek court orders to block news websites, social media accounts and individual posts.
Freedom House classified Turkey’s internet environment as “Not Free” in its 2025 assessment, awarding it 31 points out of 100. The organization documented restrictions on social media access during protests, the blocking of websites and criminal proceedings against journalists, activists and other internet users over online content.
In its latest report Freedom House identified Turkey’s proposed age-verification system as part of an international trend in which governments are introducing new requirements for accessing social media, raising concerns about privacy, surveillance and freedom of expression.
