1. Introduction
The Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Regulation”), adopted on the basis of the relevant provisions of Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection (the “Consumer Protection Law”), is one of the principal pieces of legislation enacted by the Ministry of Trade for the purpose of protecting consumers against deceptive and misleading advertising. The Regulation principally aims to ensure fair competition, safeguard consumers’ economic interests, prevent misleading and unfair commercial practices, and guarantee that consumers are able to make informed decisions of their own free will.
The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, published in the Official Gazette dated 1 July 2026 and numbered 33297, constitutes a legislative response to the new marketing tools introduced by the digital age. The amendments, which fully entered into force as of 1 August 2026, introduced new rules in a wide range of areas, including targeted advertising, advertisements generated by artificial intelligence, promotional content disseminated through social media influencers, and advertisements for discounted sales. The amendments also incorporated concepts such as “social media influencer”, “environmental claim”, and “consumer review” into the Regulation for the first time. This article will respectively examine AI-generated advertisements, targeted advertising, dark patterns, advertising by social media influencers, and the new compliance regime introduced for companies.
2. AI-Generated Advertising
The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies has transformed numerous processes in the advertising industry, ranging from content creation to the production of visual and audio materials. While these technologies enable advertisers to produce content more rapidly and in a more personalised manner, they have also introduced new risks that make it increasingly difficult for consumers to accurately assess the nature and source of advertising content.
Although the Regulation already required advertisements to comply with principles such as identifiability, accuracy and honesty, the existing framework proved insufficient to address the specific risks arising from AI-generated advertising. The Ministry of Trade therefore updated the Regulation on 1 July 2026.
2.1. New Rules on AI-Generated Advertising
The amendments introduced, for the first time, express provisions governing advertisements created through the use of artificial intelligence technologies. The new rules primarily focus on the use in advertising of AI-generated digital characters that are virtually indistinguishable from real persons.
Where an advertisement contains synthetic content, consumers must be informed, in a clear, comprehensible and readily distinguishable manner, that the relevant character has been generated by artificial intelligence.
Furthermore, it is prohibited to create content in which an AI-generated digital replica of a real person falsely gives the impression that such person has used, experienced or endorsed a particular product or service.
2.2. Legal Liability for AI-Generated Advertising
Under the Consumer Protection Law, advertisers bear the burden of proving the accuracy of claims made in their commercial advertisements. Advertisers, advertising agencies and media organisations are also responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions governing advertisements.
Pursuant to Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law and the communiqué governing the administrative fines applicable in 2026, the Advertising Board may impose administrative fines in respect of deceptive and misleading advertisements and unfair commercial practices, taking into account the nature of the violation, the extent of the benefit obtained or damage caused, and the degree of fault.
In this context, administrative fines ranging from TRY 79,161 to TRY 31,808,530 in 2025 have increased to between TRY 99,339 and TRY 39,916,524 in 2026.1
Accordingly, any content generated using artificial intelligence should be subject to human review before publication, and appropriate legal advice should be obtained prior to dissemination.
2.3. Deepfake Advertising
The term “deepfake” refers both to the process of generating highly realistic but fabricated images, video or audio content through deep-learning techniques based on existing data, and to the content produced as a result of that process.2
Such manipulation may take the form of replacing the face of a person appearing in an original image with another person’s face, altering facial expressions, or creating a person who does not in fact exist. Deepfake technology is not limited to visual manipulation and may also involve the alteration or artificial generation of voice recordings.
Deepfake advertisements produced through prohibited devices or software may constitute criminal offences under the Turkish Criminal Code. Depending on the circumstances, the unauthorised use of a person’s image may also give rise to criminal liability in connection with offences such as false accusation, fabrication of an offence and blackmail.
Another legal dimension of the unlawful production of deepfake content concerns the unlawful recording and use of personal data.
3. Targeted Advertising
3.1. The Concept of Targeted Advertising
Another concept newly introduced into Turkish legislation through the amendments effective as of 1 August 2026 is “targeted advertising”.
Targeted advertising, also referred to as data-driven marketing, is a form of advertising, including online advertising, directed towards an audience possessing certain characteristics according to the product or service promoted by the advertiser.
These characteristics may be based on demographic factors such as race, economic status, gender, age, educational background and income level, or on psychographic factors such as consumers’ values, personality traits, attitudes and interests.
Article 25/A, newly added to the Regulation, defines targeted advertising as the activity whereby sellers and service providers, or intermediary service providers acting on their behalf, analyse consumers’ online behaviour, past preferences, location information, demographic data or similar personal data in order to present advertising content specifically tailored to certain individuals or groups.
Under this provision, transparency as to the criteria used to determine which advertisements are presented to particular consumers has become mandatory. In addition, where a consumer is a child, or can reasonably be identified as such, targeted advertising based on that child’s personal data is prohibited.
3.2. Privacy and Consent
Targeted advertising seeks to provide personalised content by analysing users’ online behaviour, interests and demographic data. Cookies constitute one of the principal technological tools used for this purpose.3
Third-party cookies, in particular, enable advertisers to engage in extensive profiling by tracking users’ digital footprints.
Continuous monitoring of individuals in the online environment not only raises concerns regarding the right to privacy but may also affect users’ decision-making processes on digital platforms. This development has made it necessary to reconsider the concept of “consent” within modern data protection law.4
Data processed through cookies that render a person identified or identifiable are regarded as personal data.
Accordingly, practices such as retargeting, the creation of lookalike audiences, reminders concerning products left in online shopping baskets, location-based notifications and behavioural email segmentation may also fall within the scope of targeted advertising.
The Personal Data Protection Board supervises targeted advertising as a form of personal data processing and may impose administrative fines pursuant to Article 18 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data (the “LPPD”). The Advertising Board, by contrast, supervises the same activity from the perspective of advertising law, with available sanctions under the Consumer Protection Law including suspension, corrective measures and administrative fines.
4. Dark Patterns
4.1. Definition and Types
“Dark patterns” are deceptive interface strategies deliberately incorporated into the design of websites or mobile applications for the purpose of manipulating consumers and influencing their decision-making.
According to a report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), the most common forms of dark patterns include:5
- Concealment of Information: Hiding important costs, subscription terms or delivery charges in small print, concealed tabs or obscure links.
- Obstruction of Cancellation: Making registration or subscription easy while requiring users to complete complex and burdensome steps in order to cancel.
- Preselection and Visual Interference: Pre-ticking consent boxes, prominently displaying undesired options while presenting refusal options in a manner that makes them difficult to notice.
- False Urgency and Scarcity: Creating pressure on users through misleading statements such as “50 people are viewing this item right now” or “Only 2 items left”.
4.2. Legal Aspects
Since many dark patterns do not, at first sight, amount to overt fraud or an expressly deceptive representation, they may sometimes fall outside the conventional boundaries of statutory prohibitions. For this reason, it is increasingly recognised that transparency and information obligations alone are insufficient and must be supplemented by more prescriptive, rule-based standards.
Although the expression “dark pattern” does not expressly appear in Turkish legislation, various statutes and regulations, including the Consumer Protection Law, the Law on the Protection of Personal Data, the Law on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce and the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, indirectly prohibit manipulative interface designs of this nature.
In particular, within the framework of the LPPD, misleading privacy notices and personal data processing carried out without obtaining a genuine manifestation of free will in the form of valid explicit consent are regarded as unlawful.
Articles 48, 61 and 62 of the Consumer Protection Law regulate commercial advertising and unfair commercial practices and treat incomplete or misleading information that adversely affects consumers’ economic interests as an unfair commercial practice.
Similarly, the newly introduced provisions of the Regulation concerning interface design classify methods that impair consumers’ free will and cause them to make decisions in favour of a seller that they would not otherwise have made under normal circumstances as deceptive commercial practices.
5. Advertising by Social Media Influencers
5.1. Definition and Legal Framework
The first formal and detailed definition of the term “influencer” in Turkish regulatory practice was introduced through the Guideline on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Conducted by Social Media Influencers (the “Guideline”), published by the Advertising Board within the Ministry of Trade on 4 May 2021.
Under the Guideline, a social media influencer is defined as a person who engages in marketing communications through a social media account for the purpose of promoting the sale of goods or services belonging either to themselves or to an advertiser, or for the purpose of informing or persuading a target audience.
Social content creators are also defined under Repeated Article 20/B of Income Tax Law No. 193 and may benefit from a tax exemption subject to certain conditions.
Article 61 of the Consumer Protection Law constitutes the principal legal basis for the obligations imposed upon social media influencers. While establishing the legal framework applicable to commercial advertising and the prohibition on covert advertising, this provision also subjects influencers to legal responsibility in their capacity as media through which advertising messages are communicated to the target audience.
Under the Guideline, where an influencer’s content concerning a product or service involves financial consideration, gifts, discounts or a commercial partnership, this fact must be disclosed in a manner that is immediately apparent to the consumer at first glance.
5.2. Prohibition of Covert Advertising
The prohibition of covert advertising constitutes one of the most significant legal limitations applicable to influencer advertising.
Covert advertising refers to the promotion of goods or services in circumstances where the advertising purpose of the communication is concealed and the consumer is not clearly made aware that they are being exposed to advertising.
Under the Consumer Protection Law, covert advertising is prohibited not only in audio, print and visual media, but also across digital platforms.
On social media, violations of this prohibition commonly arise where advertising is presented as an “organic recommendation”. For example, where an influencer receives financial consideration, free products, sponsorship or a discount code from a brand but presents the relevant post as an entirely independent and impartial personal experience, the content may be classified as covert advertising.
5.3. Sanctions and Criminal Liability
The sanctions applicable where social media influencers breach the prohibition of covert advertising or applicable transparency obligations are regulated under Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law. The Advertising Board within the Ministry of Trade is authorised to identify such violations and impose the relevant sanctions.
Depending on the nature of the violation, the Board may order the suspension of the relevant advertising activity, require corrective action, order the blocking of access, or impose an administrative fine.
For violations committed via the internet in 2026, the applicable upper limit of the administrative fine may reach TRY 8,635,800.
When determining the appropriate sanction, aggravating factors such as the scale of the infringement, the size of the target audience and repeated violations may be taken into account. Where the unlawful conduct continues despite a suspension order, administrative fines may be imposed at increased levels.
5.4. New Provisions of the Regulation
Following the amendments, a “social media influencer” is defined as a natural or legal person who, directly or indirectly, shares content through social media for the purpose of promoting goods or services on their own behalf or on behalf of an advertiser, thereby engaging in marketing communications and deriving a benefit of any kind from such communications.
With the amendments effective as of 1 August 2026, the rules governing influencer advertising, which had previously existed only at Guideline level, were incorporated directly into the Regulation as Article 23/A and became binding regulatory provisions. This development has strengthened the Advertising Board’s enforcement powers.
Under the previous practice, influencers would sometimes place advertising disclosures at the very bottom of captions or conceal them among numerous hashtags. Such practices are now expressly prohibited.
Under the new rule, indications identifying content as an advertisement, collaboration or partnership must be placed in a position where they can be read directly by the consumer upon first viewing the content, without requiring any further action, and must appear in a size and format that is clearly distinguishable from the background.
Where content is shared or reposted more than once, the relevant disclosure must be repeated in each separate post. For audio-only content, the statement “[advertiser] advertisement/promotion” must be included at the beginning of the broadcast.
6. The New Compliance Regime for Companies
The new provisions entering into force as of 1 August 2026 impose a stricter legal compliance framework not only on influencers, but also on advertisers and advertising agencies that enter into commercial relationships with them.
The principal compliance measures that companies should implement under the new framework may be summarised as follows:
- Joint and Several Liability and Revision of Contracts: Advertisers may be held directly and jointly and severally liable for covert advertising or misleading representations made by influencers. Companies should therefore revise their agreements with influencers and advertising agencies to clearly regulate contractual recourse and indemnification mechanisms.
- AI and Digital Replica Compliance Policies: Companies should establish internal corporate policies governing the use of artificial intelligence by their marketing departments. Where virtual influencers or deepfake technologies are used in advertising, transparency disclosures such as “This content was generated using artificial intelligence” should be incorporated into the design of the relevant content.
- Personal Data Protection and Data Filters Concerning Children: Companies engaging in targeted marketing should implement technical filtering mechanisms capable of preventing behavioural advertising targeted at children.
- E-Commerce Reviews and the 48-Hour Rule: Since the statutory period granted to sellers to provide an explanation in response to a negative consumer review has been reduced to 48 hours, companies should establish rapid and effective coordination between their customer relations and legal departments.
- Updating Discount and Loyalty Programme Algorithms: The reference period used for calculating discounts has been reduced to ten days. Companies are therefore required to update their price-labelling systems so that the lowest price applied during the preceding ten-day period is used as the relevant reference price. Perishable goods are excluded from this rule.
For companies that make extensive use of AI-based algorithms, the adoption of a written “Internal Compliance Regulation” has now become necessary in order to proactively mitigate administrative and legal risks.
Such an internal regulatory document should address matters including the preparation of an inventory of the AI tools used by the company, mandatory human review of commercial communications before publication, and the obtaining of the necessary consents in connection with the processing of the voice and image data of real persons.
7. Conclusion
The amendments made to the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices on 1 July 2026 constitute a comprehensive regulatory development bringing the new risks created by digitalisation in the advertising industry within a legal framework.
The introduction of transparency obligations for AI-generated advertisements, consent and data protection standards in targeted advertising, restrictions—albeit indirect—on the use of dark patterns, and the clarification of the prohibition of covert advertising in influencer marketing may all be regarded as significant developments for the protection of consumers.
From the perspective of companies, however, the most significant consequence of these amendments is the expansion of the compliance burden.
Advertisers may now be held jointly and severally liable not only for their own direct conduct but also for the actions of influencers and advertising agencies with which they cooperate. This requires companies to reconsider their contractual relationships, develop internal policies governing the use of artificial intelligence, and integrate human oversight into their marketing processes.
Ultimately, Turkish advertising law has taken a significant step towards keeping pace with technological developments. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the new regulatory framework will largely depend on the enforcement practices of the Advertising Board and the Personal Data Protection Board, as well as on the extent to which companies take their new compliance obligations seriously.
Accordingly, it is of considerable importance for both advertisers and social media influencers to seek legal advice in order to ensure compliance with the evolving regulatory framework.
For detailed information on this matter and to obtain paid oral and/or written legal consultancy services, you may contact us through the “Contact Us” section of our website.
Further information regarding our Firm’s practice in Information Technology Law, Criminal Law, Administrative and Tax Law, Contracts Law, and Consumer Law is available on our website.
E. Ceyda YEŞİL (Apprentice Attorney)
Uçar Law & Consultancy Office
Edited by: Adar UÇAR (Attorney at Law)
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- Mustafa Aksu (Ed.), Yapay Zekâ ve Hukuk, 1. Baskı, İstanbul, On İki Levha Yayıncılık, 2024. ↩︎
- Sophie C. Boerman, Sanne Kruikemeier ve Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, “Online Behavioral Advertising: A Literature Review and Research Agenda”, Journal of Advertising, C. 46, S. 3, 2017, s. 363–376. ↩︎
- Esin Küzeci, Kişisel Verilerin Korunması, İstanbul, İmaj Yayınevi, 2020. ↩︎
- OECD, Dark Commercial Patterns, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 336, OECD Publishing, 2022. ↩︎
