Turkey's Trade Ministry launches new advertising rules, Aug 1 2026
Turkey's Trade Ministry has approved a comprehensive amendment to the Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation, which will become effective on 1 August 2026. The measures aim to protect consumers from deceptive advertising across ten key areas, including AI‑generated ads, influencer promotions, false discount tactics, targeted ads, and child profiling.
The amendment bans advertisements for fortune‑tellers, mediums, astrologers and all forms of illegal gambling, betting and chance‑game promotions. It also requires any AI‑created digital characters that could be mistaken for a real person to be clearly labeled as artificial. Influencer content must display an explicit “advertisement” or “promotion” notice. Discount ads can no longer show inflated original prices; the referenced pre‑discount price must be the lowest price recorded in the ten days before the sale, with a special rule for perishable goods.
Consumer‑complaint response times are shortened from 72 to 48 hours, and the rules apply to every media channel—television, radio, print, online sites and social‑media platforms. The ministry has pledged rigorous and ongoing inspections to enforce the new standards.
Entities: Artificial Intelligence-generated advertisements · Illegal gambling and betting industry · Influencer marketing · Ministry of Trade (Turkey) · Trade Ministry's Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulati · Turkey Ministry of Trade
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The regulation applies to all media channels, including TV, radio, print, internet sites and social‑media platforms. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Influencer posts must display a clear “advertisement” or “promotion” label. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The new advertising regulation takes effect on 1 August 2026. (official amendment published in the Official Gazette)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Advertisements for fortune‑tellers, mediums and astrologers are prohibited. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 3 SOURCES] AI‑generated digital characters that resemble real humans must be clearly identified in ads. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Consumer‑complaint response time reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Discount ads must show the lowest price recorded in the ten days before the discount as the reference price. (Trade Ministry amendment)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Advertisements for illegal gambling, betting and chance‑games are banned. (Trade Ministry amendment)