15: The New Age Barrier for Greek Social Media Users

Greece has officially joined the ranks of nations restricting young people's online access.

The country's parliament passed a bill that bans children under the age of 15 from using major social media platforms. The measure was first proposed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier this year. It is set to take effect on January 1, 2027. This makes Greece one of the first countries in the European Union to impose such a specific age limit on digital services.

The new law targets popular applications including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. These platforms are required to implement age-verification methods that are both proportionate and reliable. The goal is to prevent minors from accessing these sites without parental consent or proper verification.

Dimitris Papastergiou, the Greek minister for digital governance and AI, defended the decision in a public statement. He noted that waiting for a perfect European law would have been an easy path to inaction. Instead, he argued that the government has a duty to act now. He described the situation as children sinking into the internet every day, making government intervention necessary.

Enforcement will rely on the European Union's Digital Services Act. Platforms that fail to comply with the new Greek rules face financial penalties. Parents will play a central role in the process. They must download state-backed applications known as Kids Wallet or Gov.gr. These apps pair with a child's device to block access to covered platforms. Papastergiou explained that these tools use age tokens to verify a user's age while collecting the minimum amount of personal data possible.

The legislative process was not without conflict. Minority parties in the Greek parliament opposed the bill. However, Mitsotakis' government held a majority, allowing them to push the measure through. This move follows a 2024 decision to ban mobile phones in schools. Recent opinion polls indicate that the adult population in Greece widely supports the new social media restrictions for children.

There are still open questions about how this will affect the broader region. Mitsotakis has stated that his government aims to push the European Union in the same direction. The European Commission recently introduced the EU Kids Act to address similar concerns. However, that proposed law only stipulates an outright ban for children under the age of 13. Greece's threshold of 15 is therefore more restrictive than the current EU proposal.

The implementation of age verification remains a significant technical hurdle. Australia was the first nation to enact a full social media ban for kids. However, the country has found age verification to be a challenging aspect of the policy to implement effectively. Greece will now face similar tests as it prepares for the new year. The success of this law could influence how other nations handle the intersection of childhood and digital connectivity.