The new regulation, which is stated to be introduced for gaming platforms, continues to cause concern among a large segment of the public in Turkey. Various individuals and institutions in the sector are reported to have held meetings with authorities during this process. In this context, the Turkish Game Developers Association (TOGED) published a comprehensive statement regarding the legislative efforts concerning digital games.
Broad Participation Meeting at BTK
According to the statement, a broadly attended meeting was held on Tuesday, February 17, at the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). The meeting, attended by Deputy Minister of Transport Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and BTK Vice President Dr. Abdülkerim Gün, included 26 representatives from the gaming industry.
The meeting, organized at TOGED's call and coordinated by BTK, was attended by global game publishers Tencent and Moonton, investment firms Anka Ventures and Ludus Ventures, GGOG representatives, lawyers, academics, technopark managers, and local game developers and publishers. The latest stage of the draft law was comprehensively discussed at the meeting.
Official Recognition of PEGI Emphasized
TOGED also shared information regarding its contacts with high-level industry representative organizations in Europe during the meeting. In this context, feedback obtained from discussions with the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF), Pan European Game Information (PEGI), and Video Games Europe (VGE) was conveyed.
The association highlighted the advantages that Turkey's official recognition of the PEGI system would provide. It was stated that formalizing this step at the regulation level in the future would facilitate implementation and also enable BTK to participate in PEGI's operations and council structure. The meeting also assessed the expected regulatory changes on the European Union and PEGI sides, and under which headings the draft texts were being shaped.
What's in the Draft Law?
The Ministry openly shared the current version of the draft law with all participants at the meeting. It was stated that the text, which was organized into three articles in the previous version, had been revised to provide a more implementable framework, particularly addressing technical issues related to age ratings and parental controls.
The main backbone of the draft consists of three fundamental headings: the obligation to have a representative in Turkey, the establishment of an effective parental control mechanism, and the creation of a robust age rating system. According to TOGED, if these three headings are correctly designed and implemented, a structure consistent with the goals of child protection and strengthening digital literacy could emerge.
Additional Article with Vague Definition Causes Concern
It was also stated that some additional articles, which had not been previously shared with the sector, were brought up at the meeting. One of these articles was noted to be capable of granting public institutions a broad scope of authority with an undefined scope, and could allow for regulations with unclear boundaries through secondary legislation.
TOGED announced its concern and objection that the said regulation could lead to direct intervention in game content and mechanics. It was highlighted that computer games are large-scale software projects, and unlike printed or visual content, it is often not possible to easily remove a specific section. Content changes, it was stated, require significant labor, time, and cost.
In this context, it was reported that the risk of platforms reviewing their operations in the Turkish market in the face of vague and open-ended obligations was also discussed at the meeting.
The association stated that they clearly conveyed their objections to regulations that are not clearly defined and are open to interpretation, and that regulatory arrangements should be limited to the implementation principles of the three main headings. The view that broader regulations could pave the way for the prohibition of game content in the future and that platforms might hesitate to appoint representatives in Turkey was also shared with the authorities.
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