Greece moves to ban social media for children under 15

Greece is preparing to introduce a ban on social media access for children under the age of 15 in the near future, according to government sources, noting that special working groups have already been established to move the process forward.

Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou said his ministry is technically ready to enforce the measure immediately once it is formally announced by the prime minister, as per Greek media reports.

Papastergiou explained that over the summer, European authorities were compelled to issue unified guidance on age verification for online platforms, adding that Greece is currently the only country to have fully implemented those rules. He pointed to the Kids Wallet parental control application developed by the Greek government, along with the Wallet app, which will be used to verify users’ ages on social media platforms operating in Greece.

He added that France is expected to be ready to roll out a similar age-verification system within the next two months, while other countries are likely to adopt simpler approaches modelled on Australia’s system.

Australia became the first country to pass legislation restricting teenagers’ access to social media, with the law taking effect on December 10. The country’s telecommunications safety regulator reported last month that since the law came into force, it has approved the removal of 4.7 million user accounts from certain platforms. Under the rules, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and X, as well as streaming services Kick and Twitch, are required to block access for users under the age of 16.

Spain is also moving toward similar restrictions. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the country plans to implement a comparable ban, announcing that starting next week, teenagers under 16 will no longer be allowed to use social media. He described the measure as one of five actions his government is taking against digital platforms.

“Today, our children are exposed to a space that was never intended for them to discover on their own: a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence. We will not accept it anymore. We will protect them from the digital Wild West,” Sanchez said.

In France, lawmakers passed a bill last week that would prohibit social media use by children under 15 and ban mobile phone use in schools. While the legislation has the backing of President Emmanuel Macron, it still needs approval from the Senate to become law.

“The feelings of our children and teenagers are not for sale or manipulation by American platforms or Chinese algorithms,” Macron said.

In Britain, the House of Lords has supported a similar proposal, though it must still pass the House of Commons before it can take effect. Portugal is also considering measures that would restrict social media access for teenagers under 16 unless parental consent is provided.

By Tamilla Hasanova