Greece Mandates Digital Access Rules for Youth

Athens has officially joined the growing list of nations seeking to regulate digital childhood through legislative means.

The Greek parliament has formally passed a bill prohibiting children under the age of fifteen from using major social media platforms. This measure, which was first proposed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier in the year, is set to take effect on January 1, 2027. As one of the first such regulations enacted within the European Union, the law targets widely used services including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. The legislation requires these platforms to implement age-verification methods that are both reliable and proportionate to the user's age.

The path to this legislation began with the prime minister’s initial announcement of the measure during the current year. Following that proposal, the bill moved through the parliamentary process despite opposition from minority parties. Mitsotakis, who described the bill as difficult but necessary, utilized his government's majority to secure passage. The move follows a 2024 decision by the nation to ban mobile phones in schools, suggesting a continued governmental focus on managing young people's digital exposure. Recent opinion polls indicate that the adult population of Greece broadly supports this new restriction on social media access for minors.

Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister for digital governance and AI, defended the timing of the legislation against those who preferred to wait for broader EU standards. He noted that inaction would have been an easier path, but emphasized that children are increasingly immersed in the internet daily. Papastergiou stated that a responsible government is obligated to act in such circumstances, rather than waiting for a perfect European law to arrive. This sentiment reflects a desire to take immediate national action while broader continental frameworks are still being developed.

Under the new rules, non-compliance with the act will result in fines governed by the EU's Digital Services Act. The law also places specific responsibilities on parents, who will be required to install state-backed applications such as Kids Wallet or Gov.gr. These applications must be paired with their child's device to actively block access to social media platforms. Papastergiou explained that these tools are engineered to protect privacy while minimizing the amount of personal data collected. They utilize age tokens to verify a user's age without requiring extensive disclosure of personal information.

The Greek government aims to use this domestic legislation as a catalyst for broader European policy. Mitsotakis previously indicated that the government’s goal is to push the European Union toward similar measures. The European Commission has recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which aligns with this direction, though it currently stipulates an outright ban only for children under the age of thirteen. Greece’s threshold of fifteen is therefore more restrictive than the proposed EU standard, positioning the country at the forefront of this regulatory trend.

Australia remains the first nation to enact a full social media ban for children, providing a precedent that Greece is now following. However, the Australian experience has highlighted the difficulties inherent in implementing age verification on a large scale. As Greece prepares for the January 2027 deadline, it faces the same technical and logistical challenges in ensuring that age checks are both effective and respectful of user privacy. The success of this initiative will likely influence how other EU members approach their own digital governance strategies in the coming years.

The enactment of this law marks a significant shift in how the Greek government approaches the intersection of technology and public welfare. By moving from school-based phone bans to comprehensive social media restrictions, the state is asserting a stronger role in managing the digital environment for its youngest citizens. As the January 2027 effective date approaches, attention will turn to the practical implementation of the age-token systems and the enforcement mechanisms under the Digital Services Act.