The Turkish parliament voted on Wednesday to prevent children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms, state media agency Anadolu reported, the latest country to try such a ban.

Under the law, under-15s will be banned from creating accounts on social media, while digital platforms will be forced to put in age-verification systems, Turkish news broadcaster NTV reported.

The vote follows in the footsteps of similar bans and proposals to limit the harms of internet use for young people, including Australia’s landmark move to restrict social media to over-16s only.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to sign the legislation, which was introduced by his party.

The law will enter into force six months after being published in the official gazette.

If alerted to an “emergency”, major social media platforms will have a duty to intervene within an hour of harmful content being posted online, NTV said.

Besides Turkey, France has been spearheading a push for action alongside EU partners including Denmark, Greece and Spain -- with a hotly-debated ban for under-15s working its way through the French parliament.

It comes after Australia in December became the first nation to prohibit people under the age of 16 from using immensely popular and profitable social media platforms.

Greece has since said it will ban social media for under-15s, while the European Union has said an expert group will start preparing recommendations for action across the bloc.

Source: AFP
-- Agencies