Greece Moves to Shield Minors From Social Media
The nation's parliament has passed a law that will restrict children's access to major social platforms starting in early 2027.
By Dmitri Sokolov ·
Under a new law passed by Greece's parliament, children under 15 will be blocked from accessing social media platforms beginning January 1, 2027. The measure was advanced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who first proposed the idea earlier this year. The bill, which Mitsotakis characterized as "difficult but necessary," establishes one of the first such restrictions within the European Union.
The legislation applies to major services including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X, and requires these platforms to employ reliable methods for verifying the ages of their users. To comply with the act, services must implement age-verification procedures. Failure to adhere to the new regulations will result in fines issued under the European Union's Digital Services Act.
Enforcement of the ban will also rely on parental cooperation. Parents are required to download state-backed applications known as Kids Wallet or Gov.gr, which are linked to a child's device to block access to restricted content. Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece's digital governance and AI minister, stated that these apps are designed to protect user privacy by utilizing "age tokens," a method that verifies a person's age while minimizing the disclosure of personal data.
The bill was passed with the support of the ruling government's majority, despite opposition from the nation's minority parties. This legislative action follows a 2024 measure that barred mobile phones in schools. According to opinion polls, the social media restrictions for children are widely supported by the adult population in Greece.
The prime minister has expressed a desire to influence policy beyond Greece's borders, stating that the government's "goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well." While the European Commission has introduced the EU Kids Act with similar intentions, that regulation sets an outright ban only for children under 13. Australia was the first country to enact a complete social media ban for young people, though implementing age verification has presented challenges.
Source: Engadget
