Greek Law Bars Under-15s From Social Media Starting January 2027

Greece will bar children under 15 from major social media platforms starting January 1, 2027.

Parliament passed the measure this week after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced it earlier this year. He called the bill "difficult but necessary." The law covers TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X, and requires those companies to build age-verification systems that are, in the government's words, both proportionate and reliable. Platforms that miss the requirements face fines under the EU's Digital Services Act.

The age check runs through state-backed apps called Kids Wallet and Gov.gr. Parents install them and pair them to a child's device, which then blocks the restricted services. Digital governance and AI minister Dimitris Papastergiou said the apps use "age tokens" that confirm a person's age while disclosing as little personal information as possible. He also defended Greece moving ahead without waiting for EU-wide rules, saying, "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."

Greece's minority parties voted against the legislation, so Mitsotakis relied on his government's majority to push it through. The country banned mobile phones in schools in 2024, and opinion polls show broad support for the new restriction among Greek adults. Mitsotakis has said his government's "goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well."

The European Commission has introduced the EU Kids Act, which seeks a similar result but calls for an outright ban only for children under 13. Australia remains the first country to enact a full social media ban for children. Age verification there has proved difficult to put in place, and Greece's state-backed apps will now face the same test when the law takes effect on January 1, 2027.