Mitsotakis Signs Greek Law Banning Social Media for Kids Under 15
The rule takes effect January 1, 2027, and requires tech giants to verify user ages through state-backed applications.
By Adewale Fletcher ·
Greece will become the first European Union member to block children under 15 from using major social media platforms starting January 1, 2027. The new law requires users to verify their age through specific digital tools before they can access services like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the bill difficult but necessary. The government moved forward with the legislation without waiting for new EU-wide regulations to be finalized. Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister for digital governance and artificial intelligence, argued that waiting for a perfect European law would have meant doing nothing while children continued to spend more time online.
Papastergiou stated that children are sinking into the internet every day. He believed a responsible government must act immediately rather than wait for future legal frameworks. The minister emphasized that the country faces a current challenge that requires immediate governmental action.
Parents must download state-backed applications named Kids Wallet or Gov.gr to manage their children's access. These apps pair with a child's device to block the restricted services. The system relies on age tokens to confirm a user's age while collecting the minimum amount of personal data possible to protect privacy.
Tech companies that do not implement proportionate and reliable age-verification methods will face fines under the EU's Digital Services Act. The law shifts the burden of verification onto the platforms while providing families with government-supported tools to monitor compliance on their own devices.
Mitsotakis relied on his parliamentary majority to pass the measure after minority parties opposed the legislation. Greece previously banned mobile phones in schools in 2024. Opinion polls show that a large portion of Greek adults support the new social media restrictions for minors.
The Greek government aims to push the European Union in the same direction. The European Commission recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which proposes an outright ban only for children under 13. Australia was the first country to enact a full social media ban for children, but Greece will now face similar implementation challenges in its own age-verification system.
