Greece Mandates Social Media Age Verification for Under-15s
Athens becomes the first EU nation to enforce a strict digital age limit, setting a precedent for upcoming European regulations.
By Amy Swan ·
Greece has officially cemented its position as the first European Union member state to enforce a social media ban for children under 15.
The legislation, which passed through the Greek parliament, will take effect on January 1, 2027. This move follows Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s earlier announcement of the measure, which he characterized as a difficult but necessary step for the nation. The new rules apply to major platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X, requiring these services to implement proportionate and reliable age-verification methods to restrict access for younger users.
Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister for digital governance and AI, defended the decision by arguing that the government could not afford to wait for a broader European framework. 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."
Compliance with the new act is strictly enforced through the EU’s Digital Services Act, which outlines the penalties for non-adherence. To ensure the rules are followed, parents will be required to download state-backed applications named Kids Wallet or Gov.gr. These tools must be paired with their child’s device to block unauthorized access to social media services.
The government emphasizes that these applications are engineered to safeguard privacy by minimizing the amount of data collected. According to Papastergiou, the system utilizes "age tokens" to verify a user's age while reducing the disclosure of personal information, aiming to strike a balance between security and data protection.
The path to enactment was not without political friction. Minority parties in Greece opposed the legislation, prompting Mitsotakis to leverage his majority government to push the bill through. This follows a 2024 mandate that barred mobile phones in schools, and recent opinion polls indicate that the new social media restrictions are widely supported by the adult population.
Athens aims to use its domestic laws to influence broader European policy. Mitsotakis previously noted that the government's goal is to push the EU in the same direction. The European Commission has recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which aligns with this trajectory but currently stipulates an outright ban only for children under 13.
While Australia was the first country to enact a full social media ban for minors, the implementation of age verification has proven challenging there. Greece’s approach seeks to refine these mechanisms through specific state apps and digital tokens, setting a new standard for digital age restrictions in the region.
Source: Engadget
