New Regulatory Framework on Digital Games in Türkiye

The Law Amending the Social Services Law and Certain Other Laws (“Amendment Law”), which introduces significant amendments to the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Online Publications and Combating against Crimes Committed through such Publications (“Internet Law”) concerning the gaming sector, has been published on the Official Gazette on May 1, 2026. Originally submitted to the Turkish Parliament on March 4, 2026, the amendments are primarily aimed at protecting children in digital spaces.

This legal alert provides a detailed overview of the amendments, which introduce a comprehensive regulatory framework for the digital gaming ecosystem in Türkiye. The purpose of this alert is to inform affected key stakeholders of their upcoming legal obligations, the critical 6-month compliance timeline, and severe sanction mechanisms.

With the exception of certain definitions, including Game, Game Provider, Game Distributor and Gaming Platform, the new obligations and technical integration measures will enter into force within 6 months of its publication on the Official Gazette. This transition period presents a limited but critical window for affected stakeholders to assess their operations, implement necessary changes, and align with the new regulatory regime, particularly in light of the significant sanctions foreseen for non-compliance.

In this context, these amendments will be administered under the Internet Law by the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (“ITCA”), which is the authority vested with the power to issue secondary legislation, to oversee the implementation of the relevant obligations and to impose administrative sanctions.

1.     Definitions

The Amendment Law introduces a specific regulatory framework for the digital gaming ecosystem for the first time by setting forth the following legal definitions:

• Game is defined as “digital games distributed or updated via the internet, which can be played online or offline in an electronic environment”.

• Game Distributor is defined as “natural or legal persons who manage relationships with sales channels to deliver digital games produced or published by content providers to end users, coordinate the production and management of license keys, utilize digital rights management systems, and provide financial or technical intermediary services during this process”.

• Game Developer is defined as “natural or legal persons who design digital games or game content, develop their software, or manage the development process”.

• Gaming Platform is defined as “natural or legal persons that provides the software or technical infrastructure for the display, sale, distribution, download, or gameplay of digital games and related additional content over the internet; and that facilitates or coordinates user access to games or content, license management, or user-to-user interaction”.

2.     Local Representation Requirement

Foreign Gaming Platforms with more than 100,000 daily accesses from Türkiye must appoint a local representative and publish the representative’s contact details clearly on their website.

The explicit role of this representative is to ensure the execution of notifications, notices, or requests sent by the ITCA, the Access Providers Association, and judicial or administrative authorities, as well as to guarantee compliance with all other obligations under the Internet Law.

In this regard, foreign Gaming Platforms are obliged to provide the information of their local representative to the ITCA.

3.     Mandatory Age Ratings

Gaming Platforms are prohibited from offering games that have not been age rated in accordance with the secondary regulations that will be published by the ITCA. However, if a game lacks a formal rating, Gaming Platforms may make them available on the condition that such games are assigned the highest age rating.

Furthermore, without prejudice to their existing liabilities as content or hosting providers, Gaming Platforms are strictly obliged to remove any content, i.e. games, that are not age rated based on the secondary regulations.

4.     Parental Controls

Gaming Platforms must provide clear, comprehensible, and user-friendly parental control mechanisms, which allows parents (i) to control account settings and (ii) to mandate parental consent/approval for all fee-based transactions (e.g. in-game purchases, rentals, and paid memberships).

5.     Institutional Oversight

The ITCA is authorized to demand thorough information from Gaming Platforms including their corporate structures, IT systems, and data processing mechanisms, to the extent directly related to the implementation of the Internet Law.

Gaming Platforms must provide the requested information and documents immediately, within a timeframe determined by the ITCA not exceeding 15 days.

6.     Anticipated Secondary Legislation

It is important to note that the Amendment Law establishes the primary legal framework on digital games; and therefore, many operational details are not explicitly outlined.

Obligations of Gaming Platforms, such as the precise technical standards for age-rating systems, will be determined and clarified by secondary regulations to be drafted and published by the ICTA at a later stage.

7.     Sanctions for Non-Compliance

The Amendment Law foresees the following tiered mechanism regarding administrative sanctions on Gaming Platforms who fail to comply with the provisions of the Internet Law and the secondary regulations:

1	Initial Notification	The ITCA formally notifies the non-compliant Gaming Platform to fulfil its obligations.
2	First Monetary Fine	If the obligation is not met within 30 days of the initial notification, the ITCA may impose an administrative fine ranging from TRY 1 million to 10 million. (Fine amounts are determined based on the violation's nature, severity, impact on users, and resulting harm.)
3	Second Monetary Fine	If the obligation remains unfulfilled for another 30 days after the first fine is formally served, a second, heavier administrative fine ranging from TRY 10 million to 30 million TRY may be issued. (Fine amounts are determined based on the violation's nature, severity, impact on users, and resulting harm.)
4	30% Bandwidth Throttling	If the non-compliance persists for another 30 days following the notification of the second fine, the ITCA may apply to a magistrate judge to throttle Gaming Platform’s internet bandwidth by 30%.
5	Up to 50% Bandwidth Throttling	If the obligation is still not met within 30 days after the 30% throttling decision is implemented, the ITCA may apply to the judge to increase the bandwidth throttling up to 50%. The judge has the discretion to set a lower rate based on the nature of the service, but it cannot be less than 30%.

The Amendment Law also stipulates the following rules related to the execution, appeals, and resolution regarding the sanctions:

• Rapid Execution. Access providers (ISPs) are legally mandated to execute the judge's bandwidth throttling orders strictly within 4 hours of receiving the notification from the ITCA.

• Appeals. The ITCA’s sanctions and the court orders can be appealed based on the Criminal Procedure Law No. 5271.

• The "Compliance Discount". The Amendment Law offers a strong incentive for eventual compliance. If Gaming Platforms finally fulfil their obligations at any point during this process; (i) the judge's bandwidth throttling decisions automatically will become null and void, and normal internet traffic will be restored and (ii) only 25% of the issued administrative fines will be collected.