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4d ago

Greece Plans Social Media Ban for Under-15s Starting 2027

Athens seeks an EU-wide age rule enforced through the Digital Services Act.

FILE - Students walk up stairs to enter their class during their first day of school at a public elementary school in Drapetsona suburb of Piraeus, near Athens, on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE - Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis waits for the arrival of the European Parliament president in Athens, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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Overview

  • Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government will table the bill in summer 2026 and start the ban on January 1, 2027.
  • The measure targets services where users create profiles, interact, and share content, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
  • Platforms will have to reverify every user’s age and block those 15 or under, with fines of up to 6% of global revenue for violations under EU rules.
  • Officials say Greece lacks its own technical tools for age checks and will lean on the EU’s Digital Services Act while pressing for a single bloc-wide age of 15.
  • The government cites anxiety, sleep loss, and addictive design as harms, and it has already banned phones in schools and rolled out parental controls at home.