22.04.2026 07:33
With the regulations passed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the leave granted for a spouse's birth has been increased to 10 days, while the maternity leave periods for women and military personnel have been extended. Working in areas where children are present has been banned for those with criminal records. New obligations including age verification, parental controls, and severe penalties have been introduced for social media and gaming platforms.
In the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 9 more articles of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Laws, which includes regulations regarding social media and maternity leave, were adopted.
PAID LEAVE IN CASE OF SPOUSE'S CHILDBIRTH INCREASED TO 10 DAYS
According to the adopted articles, with the amendment made to the Labor Law, the paid leave granted to a worker in case of their spouse's childbirth will be increased from 5 days to 10 days.
STRICT RESTRICTIONS ON WORKING IN PLACES WITH HIGH CONCENTRATION OF CHILDREN
According to the provision added to the Child Protection Law, individuals with final conviction records in judicial records and archives for crimes of sexual assault, sexual abuse of children, sexual intercourse with a minor, manufacturing and trafficking of narcotics or stimulants, facilitating the use of narcotics or stimulants, obscenity, prostitution, human trafficking, and intentional homicide cannot personally operate, be employed in, or undertake any role in person in workplaces such as child service units, forensic interview rooms, educational institutions, children's activity and play houses, schools, school buses, school canteens, dormitories, nurseries, day care centers, children's clubs, internet cafes and lounges, e-gaming venues, children's sports schools, and physical education and sports facilities operated as such, whether public, private sector, or non-governmental organizations, where children are densely present, under any name.
Individuals falling within this scope will not be granted permits or licenses for the opening or operation of the workplaces specified in the same provision. If it is determined that such workplaces are operated by individuals within this scope, these individuals will be given a 6-month period to transfer the workplace and cannot personally operate the workplace during this period. If the transfer process is not completed within this period, the issued permits and licenses will be revoked by the relevant public institutions and organizations.
OBLIGATION TO SUBMIT OFFICIAL DOCUMENT EVERY 6 MONTHS
Employees working in workplaces within this scope will be obliged to submit to the employer every 6 months an official document, based on judicial record and archive information, showing that they can work in these workplaces.
HEAVY ADMINISTRATIVE FINE FOR NON-COMPLIANT EMPLOYMENT
Persons employing workers in violation of the provision will be subject to an administrative fine of 3 times the gross minimum wage for each person employed in violation, imposed by the local administrative authority. If it is determined that the violation is not remedied within 1 month from the notification of the fine, an administrative fine of 7 times the gross minimum wage will be imposed for each person employed in violation. If the violation is still not remedied within one month from the notification of this fine, the permits and licenses issued by the relevant public institutions and organizations will be revoked. The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of the regulation will be jointly determined by the Ministries of Justice and Family and Social Services.
OTHER REGULATIONS REGARDING PAID MATERNITY LEAVE
With the regulation, amendments are made to the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law. Accordingly, for insured women or insured men whose non-insured spouse, or women receiving income or pension or men receiving income or pension whose non-insured spouse, is employed under a service contract by one or more employers, village and neighborhood headmen, or those working independently in their own name and account without a service contract, the period for considering pregnancy and postpartum conditions related to pregnancy and maternity as a maternity condition will be increased from 8 weeks to 16 weeks from the date the pregnancy begins.
According to another amendment in the law, in the case of maternity of an insured woman employed under a service contract by one or more employers, village and neighborhood headmen, or headmen working independently in their own name and account without a service contract, or those subject to real or simplified income tax due to commercial earnings or freelance professional earnings, exempt from income tax but registered in the tradesmen and artisans registry, or engaged in agricultural activity, provided that at least 90 days of short-term insurance premiums have been reported within the 1 year preceding the birth, temporary incapacity benefit will be paid for each day not worked during the 8 weeks before and 16 weeks after birth, and in case of multiple pregnancy, 2 weeks will be added to the 8-week period before birth.
If an insured woman within this scope gives birth prematurely, the periods she could not use before birth and the working period with her request and doctor's approval until 3 weeks before birth will be changed to "until 2 weeks remain".
DONATIONS MADE TO DARÜLACEZE CAN BE DEDUCTED FROM TAX BASE
With the Draft Law on Amendments to the Social Services Law and Certain Laws, an amendment is made to the Corporate Tax Law. Accordingly, donations and aids made to Darülaceze can be deducted from the corporate tax base.
AGE VERIFICATION AND PARENTAL CONTROL REQUIREMENT FOR SOCIAL NETWORK PROVIDERS
In the Law on Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combating Crimes Committed Through These Publications, definitions of "game", "game distributor", "game developer", and "game platform" are established.
A regulation is made in the provision titled "removal of content and blocking of access", which was annulled by the Constitutional Court. Accordingly, social network providers cannot provide services to children under the age of 15 and will be obliged to take necessary measures, including age verification, to prevent the provision of this service. Social network providers will take necessary measures to provide differentiated services specific to children over the age of 15. The measures taken within this scope will be published on the social network provider's own website.
Social network providers will provide clear, understandable, and user-friendly parental control tools. Parental control tools will include mechanisms for controlling account settings, subjecting fee-based transactions such as purchases, rentals, and paid memberships to parental permission or approval, and monitoring and limiting usage time.
Social network providers will be obliged to take measures to block deceptive advertisements.
NEW OBLIGATIONS FOR THOSE WITH OVER 10 MILLION DAILY ACCESSES
Social network providers with more than 10 million daily accesses from Turkey will immediately and at the latest within one hour implement the requirements of decisions given in cases where delay is detrimental, and will take all necessary measures to ensure that the publication subject to decisions for removal of content or blocking of access pursuant to the Law is not published on their own website.
If the obligation is not fulfilled within 30 days from the notification of the imposed administrative fine, the President of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) will prohibit real and legal persons who are resident taxpayers in Turkey from placing new advertisements with the relevant social network provider, new contracts cannot be established within this scope, and money transfers related to this cannot be made.
If the obligation is not fulfilled within 3 months from the date of the advertising ban decision, the President of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) may apply to the criminal court of peace for a 50% reduction in the internet traffic bandwidth of the social network provider.
If the said obligation is not fulfilled within 30 days from the implementation of the judge's decision regarding the acceptance of the application, the President of BTK may apply to the criminal court of peace for a reduction of up to 90% in the internet traffic bandwidth of the social network provider. In the decision to be given upon the second application, the judge may determine a lower rate, provided that it is not less than 50%, also taking into account the nature of the service provided.
These decisions may be appealed by the President of BTK. The decisions given by the judge will be sent to BTK to be notified to access providers. The requirements of the decisions shall be fulfilled by the access providers immediately and within 4 hours at the latest from the notification. If the obligation is fulfilled, the advertising ban will be lifted and the judge's decisions will automatically become void. BTK will notify access providers to terminate the intervention on internet traffic bandwidth.
This provision will enter into force 6 months after the publication date of the regulation.
OBLIGATIONS OF GAMING PLATFORMS
The proposal also includes regulations regarding gaming platforms.
Accordingly, a gaming platform may not offer games that are not properly rated; however, it may offer unrated games provided they are rated according to the highest age criterion. The gaming platform will be obliged to remove content that is not properly rated, without prejudice to the responsibilities and obligations arising from being a content or hosting provider.
A foreign-based gaming platform with more than 100,000 daily accesses from Turkey will be obliged to appoint a real or legal person representative in Turkey to ensure the fulfillment of notifications, notices, or requests to be sent by BTK, the Access Providers Association, judicial or administrative authorities, and other obligations within the scope of the regulation, and to inform BTK about this representative. The gaming platform will prominently and directly display the contact information of the representative on its website.
The gaming platform will provide clear, understandable, and user-friendly parental control tools.
Parental control tools will include mechanisms for controlling account settings and subjecting fee-based transactions such as purchases, rentals, and paid subscriptions to parental permission or approval.
BTK may request explanations from the gaming platform regarding its compliance with this regulation, including corporate structure, information systems, and data processing mechanisms directly related to the implementation of this regulation. The gaming platform will be obliged to provide the information and documents requested by BTK immediately and within a period not exceeding 15 days, as determined by BTK.
The procedures and principles regarding the implementation of this regulation, the obligations that the gaming platform must comply with, and rating according to age criteria will be determined by the regulation issued by BTK.
GRADUAL SANCTIONS FOR GAMING PLATFORMS FAILING TO FULFILL OBLIGATIONS
BTK will notify a gaming platform that fails to fulfill the obligations within this scope and the obligations in the regulation issued by the Authority. If the obligation subject to the notification is not fulfilled within 30 days from the notification, an administrative fine ranging from 1 million Turkish Liras to 10 million Turkish Liras may be imposed on the gaming platform by the President of BTK. If the obligation subject to the notification is not fulfilled within 30 days from the service of the imposed administrative fine, an administrative fine ranging from 10 million Turkish Liras to 30 million Turkish Liras may be imposed once more. The amount of the administrative fine will be determined by considering the nature, severity of the violation, its impact on users, or the damage incurred.
If the obligation subject to the notification is not fulfilled within 30 days from the service of the administrative fine imposed for the second time, the President of BTK may apply to the criminal court of peace for a 30% reduction in the internet traffic bandwidth of the gaming platform. If the obligation subject to the notification is not fulfilled within 30 days from the implementation of the judge's decision regarding the acceptance of the application, the President of BTK may apply to the criminal court of peace for a reduction of up to 50% in the internet traffic bandwidth of the gaming platform. In the decision to be given upon the second application, the judge may determine a lower rate, provided that it is not less than 30%, also taking into account the nature of the service provided.
These decisions may be appealed by the President of BTK in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The decisions given by the judge will be sent to BTK to be notified to access providers. The requirements of the decisions shall be fulfilled by the access providers immediately and within 4 hours at the latest from the notification. If the obligation subject to the notification is fulfilled, one-fourth of the imposed administrative fines will be collected, and the judge's decisions will automatically become void. BTK will notify access providers to terminate the intervention on internet traffic bandwidth.
This provision will enter into force 6 months after the publication date of the regulation.
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE DURATION FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL IS ALSO INCREASED
With the amendment made to the Turkish Armed Forces Personnel Law, Coast Guard Command Law, and Gendarmerie Organization, Duties and Powers Law, the paid postnatal leave provided to female personnel is increased from 8 weeks to 16 weeks, and the total paid maternity leave duration is increased to 24 weeks.
Military personnel who adopt a child up to 3 years old, together with their spouse or individually, will be granted 8 weeks of leave from the date the child is delivered. This leave will also apply in cases where the child is physically delivered before the adoption decision is made.
Military personnel who become foster parents for one or more children, together with their spouse or individually, will be granted 10 days of leave upon request after the date the child is delivered to the foster family.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS WERE ADJOURNED
Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Celal Adan adjourned the session after the acceptance of Article 24 of the proposal. Following the recess, as the commission did not take its place, Adan closed the session, to reconvene today at 14:00.