Türkiye moves to curb misleading property, car listings on social media

ANKARA

The Trade Ministry has stepped up its crackdown on misleading property and vehicle advertisements on social media, imposing 8.2 million Turkish Liras ($171,000) in fines on 82 businesses.

The ministry announced that 42 real estate agencies and 40 vehicle dealerships were fined 100,000 liras each for publishing listings that breached advertising regulations. The crackdown also targets posts featuring phrases such as “DM for price” that hide asking prices from the public.

Under the Electronic Advertisement Verification System (EİDS), identity and authorization checks are mandatory for property and vehicle listings published online, including on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Social media posts must include a link to an EİDS-verified listing, while any accompanying photos, videos and descriptions must correspond to the verified property or vehicle.

The ministry said businesses had previously been warned that prices must also be stated in social media posts rather than provided only through private messages.

It also said that Meta will block accounts found violating the rules.