Greece to Ban Social Media for Under-15s From Jan. 1, Ahead of EU Rules

Greece will ban children under 15 from social media starting Jan. 1, 2027, moving ahead with national legislation rather than waiting for a European Union framework, Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou said.

Mr. Papastergiou told the state news agency ANA-MPA that Greece's rules will follow the core principles the EU is developing, with room for adjustments once European legislation is finalized. He said the EU process is expected to take about 20 months.

Age checks will rely on Kids Wallet, a Greek government app that confirms whether a user is above or below the age threshold without giving platforms a birth date or other personal data. Platforms will also be responsible for detecting users' real ages, including through their own algorithms. Enforcement against platforms based outside Greece will run through the EU's Digital Services Act, with the telecom regulator EETT able to report violations.

For ages 13 to 15, Mr. Papastergiou said the EU proposal would not allow access to social media as it exists today.

Children could use specially designed environments with parental consent, limited to one hour a day, locked overnight, with no endless scrolling and restrictions on contact from strangers. "Europe isn't saying a 13-year-old will join Instagram as it is today," he said.

He said Greece is also pushing for the planned EU Kids Act to cover artificial intelligence chatbots, calling it dangerous for children to ask AI models anything and receive any answer.

An age limit alone won't solve digital addiction, he added, arguing platforms, not families, should bear primary responsibility for safe design.

Greece first raised the idea of a "digital age of majority" about two years ago, following Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's address to the U.N. General Assembly.

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