Greece Becomes First in EU to Cut Off Social Media for Under-15s Starting Next Year

Starting January 1, 2027, millions of Greek children will be officially locked out of major social media platforms. The country’s parliament has enacted a law that prohibits access to services like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X for anyone under the age of 15. This makes Greece one of the first nations in the European Union to implement such a strict age-based restriction, setting a significant precedent for digital parenting rules across the continent.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who announced the measure earlier this year, described the bill as "difficult but necessary." The legislation mandates that social media companies must implement proportionate and reliable age-verification methods to ensure they are meeting the legal requirements. If platforms fail to comply with these new standards, they face fines under the EU’s Digital Services Act, providing a financial incentive for tech companies to adapt their systems.

Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece’s digital governance and AI minister, argued that waiting for a broader European solution was no longer an option. He stated, "It would have been very easy to do absolutely nothing today and wait for the perfect European law. But the challenge is here. Children are sinking into the internet every day, and I believe a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do." This sentiment reflects a growing urgency among policymakers to address the impact of digital platforms on younger users.

For parents, the law introduces a practical hurdle: they must download state-backed applications called Kids Wallet or Gov.gr. These apps are paired with their child’s device to block access to restricted platforms. Papastergiou explained that these tools are designed to protect privacy by using "age tokens." This technology allows the system to confirm a user's age while minimizing the amount of personal data disclosed, addressing common concerns about surveillance.

The path to enactment was not without political friction. Minority parties in the Greek parliament opposed the legislation, but the ruling majority pushed the bill through. This move follows a broader trend in the country, which previously banned mobile phones in schools in 2024. Recent opinion polls indicate that the adult population in Greece is widely supportive of the new social media ban, suggesting strong public backing for the government's interventionist approach.

Mitsotakis has indicated that the goal is to influence the rest of the European Union to follow suit. The European Commission has recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which aims to regulate children's online presence. However, that proposed legislation only stipulates an outright ban for children under the age of 13, meaning Greece’s threshold of 15 is stricter than the current European framework.

Greece is not the first country to tackle this issue. Australia was the pioneer in enacting a full social media ban for kids, but it has faced significant challenges in implementing age verification. As Greece prepares for the January 2027 deadline, it will be watching closely to see how the system functions in practice and whether it can avoid the technical hurdles that have complicated similar efforts elsewhere.

The implementation of this law marks a significant shift in how governments approach digital childhood. By combining legal mandates on tech companies with parental control tools, Greece is creating a hybrid model of regulation. As the new year approaches, the country will be a key test case for whether such strict age gates can be successfully enforced without placing an undue burden on families or platforms.