Turkey's New Doctor Social Media Rules: Key Restrictions

🇹🇷 Turkey Introduces New Social Media Rules for Doctors: “Before/After” Under Strict Control

Turkey's Ministry of Health has approved a new regulation that sets clear standards for how medical professionals can use social media. The updated rules aim to increase transparency and protect patients from misleading advertising — particularly in the field of aesthetic medicine, which is highly popular among international visitors.

🔍 What Has Changed

• Posting "before/after" photos and videos is now allowed only with the patient's written consent, without filters or retouching.
• Comments under such posts must be disabled.
• All procedure-related content must include the mandatory disclaimer.
• A complete ban on sponsored posts and paid promotion of medical services has been introduced.

🎯 Purpose of the New Rules

Authorities emphasize that these measures are designed to protect patients from manipulative advertising, unrealistic expectations, and misleading visual content. Medical posts must remain strictly informative and ethically compliant.

🔒 Key Restrictions

• "Before/after" allowed only with written patient consent
• No filters, no retouching
• Mandatory disclaimer on all relevant posts
• Comments must be disabled under result posts
• No paid ads or sponsored promotion

These regulations represent a significant step toward ensuring ethical medical advertising and protecting patient rights in Turkey's growing medical tourism sector.