Greece has officially passed a law prohibiting children under the age of 15 from accessing social media, with the new rules scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The legislation follows an announcement earlier this year by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Describing the measure as “difficult but necessary,” Mitsotakis said the government was taking action to address growing concerns about children’s online activities.
The law is among the first measures of its kind in the European Union. It covers platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X, requiring them to implement reliable and proportionate age-verification systems.
Greece’s Digital Governance and AI Minister, Dimitris Papastergiou, defended the decision, arguing that the government could not afford to delay action while waiting for a comprehensive European-wide policy.
He said children were spending increasing amounts of time online and that authorities had a responsibility to protect them.
Under the legislation, platforms that fail to comply could face fines under the EU’s Digital Services Act. Parents will also be able to use government-backed applications, including Kids Wallet and Gov.gr, to link their children’s devices and restrict access to prohibited platforms.
According to Papastergiou, the applications are designed to safeguard users’ privacy by using age tokens that verify a person’s age without unnecessarily exposing personal information.
The bill faced opposition from minority parties in parliament but was passed with the support of Mitsotakis’s governing majority.
Greece had previously introduced a ban on mobile phone use in schools in 2024. Opinion polls have also indicated substantial public support for restricting children’s access to social media.
Mitsotakis has said he hopes Greece’s decision will encourage the European Union to adopt similar measures across the bloc.
The European Commission has since introduced its EU Kids Act initiative, which aims to strengthen children’s online protection, although its proposed age restrictions focus on banning social media access for children under 13.
Australia was the first country to introduce a nationwide social media ban for children below a specified age. However, implementing effective age-verification systems has presented significant challenges.
Greece’s new law is expected to add to the growing international debate over how governments should protect young people online while balancing privacy, digital access and parental responsibility.
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Nice move