Turkey’s Ministry of Trade imposed a total of 8.2 million TL in administrative fines on real estate agents and auto dealers that published vehicle and real estate advertisements on social media in violation of the legislation. Inspections determined that 42 real estate businesses and 40 auto dealerships had failed to comply with the rules. While each business was fined 100 thousand TL, the total number of businesses subject to sanctions reached 82.
The Electronic Advertisement Verification System (EİDS), which came into force at the beginning of this year, is being implemented to cover social media posts by real estate agents and auto dealerships in addition to conventional advertising platforms. Accordingly, two requirements must be met when advertisements for homes, cars, plots of land or workplaces are shared from commercial accounts. The post must include a verified advertisement link created through EİDS, and the sale price must be stated explicitly.
The regulation applies to commercial posts by institutions and businesses. Individuals’ personal social media posts are excluded from its scope. Turkey’s Ministry of Trade announced that businesses publishing advertisements in violation of the rules would face different sanctions in addition to fines.
According to the statement, the social media accounts of the 82 businesses that were fined will have their access closed by Meta. Thus, the activities of commercial accounts that fail to comply with the legislation on social media platforms will also be blocked. With the Ministry’s action, concealing price information on social media and informing users via private messages, as well as sharing unverified advertisements, have become subject to sanctions.