Greece to Block Children Under 15 From Social Media

Greece has enacted a law that bars children under 15 from using social media, with enforcement scheduled to begin on January 1, 2027. The country's parliament gave final approval to the measure this week, making it official after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis first proposed the idea earlier this year. The law mandates that platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X must implement proportionate and reliable methods for verifying a user's age before granting access to their services.

The government's push for the law reflects a growing concern about how much time young people spend online. The prime minister described the legislation as difficult but necessary. In his view, the issue of children engaging with the internet constantly is a serious one that requires action from the state. The law is now in effect, and the government's digital governance and AI minister, Dimitris Papastergiou, emphasized that waiting for a unified European approach was not an option.

The new rules are intended to be enforced through a combination of platform accountability and parental controls. If a child under 15 attempts to access a blocked platform, they would need to use apps provided by the state. These apps, called Kids Wallet or Gov.gr, are connected to the child's device to block access to social media. The government has stated that these tools are designed to protect user privacy and minimize the data collected during the verification process by using age tokens that confirm a person's age while minimizing the disclosure of their personal data.

The push for this type of legislation is not unique to Greece. The country's government has previously banned mobile phones in schools, a measure enacted in 2024. The current ban on social media for children has received widespread support among Greece's adult population according to opinion polls. However, the bill faced opposition from minority parties in the country. Prime Minister Mitsotakis used his majority in the government to ensure the legislation could be passed.

The Greek government has made it clear that this move is part of a larger strategy. Mitsotakis has previously stated that his government's goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well. The European Commission has recently introduced the EU Kids Act to do just that, but that law stipulates an outright ban only for children under 13. Australia was the first nation to enact a full social media ban for kids, but the age verification has proved challenging to implement.

The enforcement of the law will be subject to penalties. Failure to comply with the act will lead to fines under the EU's Digital Services Act. The government is now preparing for the law to take effect on January 1, 2027. The coming months will see how platforms and parents adapt to the new requirements, as the government works to enforce age verification on major social networks.