An amendment to Turkey’s Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation, prepared by the Ministry of Trade, took effect on 1 August 2026. It aims to protect consumers from misleading practices and deceptive AI-generated advertising, and it affects every business with an online store, social media account or digital ads in Turkey.
Key changes
- AI-generated digital characters: If ads use AI characters that can’t be distinguished from real people, this must be stated clearly and visibly.
- Influencer content: Posts made in return for payment or other benefits must be clearly labelled as “advertisement” or “promotion”.
- Personalised advertising: New rules cover targeted ads based on consumers’ online behaviour and data analysis.
- Conditional discounts: Campaigns with discounts tied to conditions are subject to discount advertising rules.
- Complaint response time: Sellers now have 48 hours instead of 72 to respond to a consumer complaint before it is published.
- Banned ads: Bans on advertising fortune telling, illegal betting and unlicensed gaming services were expanded.
What businesses should do
- Review your AI visuals. If you use AI-generated human characters in product promotion, add a clear disclosure to the image or video.
- Update influencer agreements. Write the labelling obligation into contracts and check posts before they go live.
- Check campaign copy. Make sure the conditions of offers like “20% off in basket” are stated clearly.
- Speed up complaint handling. Collect notifications in one place and assign an owner to meet the 48-hour deadline.
This article is for information only; consult your legal adviser for advice specific to your business.
Our take
AI image and video production is now on every agency’s agenda. We’ve added these new rules to the standard checklist for our social media and AI content work.