Greece Sets Age Limit at 15 for Social Media Access

The European Union currently lacks a single unified rule for managing minors online, leaving individual member states to draft their own protections. Greece has moved to fill that gap with a new legal threshold for social media usage.

The Greek parliament voted to restrict social media access for children under the age of 15. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the initiative earlier this year. The ban will go into force on January 1, 2027.

The regulation covers major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Service providers must implement age-verification systems that officials describe as reliable and proportionate to the user base.

Mitsotakis characterized the bill as difficult but necessary. Digital governance and AI minister Dimitris Papastergiou argued that waiting for a comprehensive EU framework would have allowed the problem to worsen.

Papastergiou stated that it would have been easy to do nothing and wait for the perfect European law. He noted that children are sinking into the internet every day. He said a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do.

Companies that fail to meet the new standards will face fines under the EU's Digital Services Act. The enforcement mechanism relies on state-backed applications called Kids Wallet or Gov.gr. Parents must download these apps and pair them with a child's device to block access to restricted services.

Papastergiou explained that the apps are designed to protect privacy and limit data collection. The systems use age tokens to confirm a person's age while disclosing as little personal information as possible.

The bill passed with the support of the governing majority. Minority parties in parliament opposed the legislation. Greece banned mobile phones in schools in 2024. Opinion polls show that a large share of Greek adults support the new social media restriction.

Mitsotakis said the government aims to push the European Union in the same direction. The European Commission recently introduced the EU Kids Act with a similar goal. That proposed law calls for an outright ban only for children under 13.

Australia was the first country to enact a full social media ban for children. Implementing age verification in Australia has proved challenging. Greece will now test whether its state-backed app approach can solve that difficulty.