Ministry of Trade imposes 8.2 million lira fine on non-compliant social media advertisements

The Ministry of Trade announced that a total of 8.2 million lira in administrative fines has been imposed on 82 businesses found to be publishing real estate and vehicle advertisements on social media platforms that violate regulations.

According to the Ministry's statement, a fine of 100 thousand lira was issued to each of the 42 real estate businesses and 40 car dealerships. It was reported that the inspections are being continued to create a transparent, secure market structure that protects consumer rights in real estate and vehicle trading.

The statement recalled that the Electronic Advertisement Verification System (EİDS), which mandates identity and authorization verification for advertisements published in electronic environments, has been put into effect. It was emphasized that this requirement covers all real estate and vehicle advertisements placed in electronic environments, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

The Ministry stated that it is mandatory to share the link to the EİDS-verified advertisement in posts made on social media. It was also stated that the visuals and descriptions included in the post must belong to the real estate or vehicle in the verified advertisement.

The statement further noted that access to accounts found to be publishing non-compliant advertisements will be blocked by Meta. It was reported that in order to avoid sanctions, real estate and car dealership businesses must include the EİDS verification link as well as the advertisement price information in their posts.

The Ministry announced that it will continue to monitor real estate and vehicle advertisements published on social media.