Greece Sets 2027 Date for Under-15 Social Media Cutoff

Greece will bar children under 15 from major social media platforms beginning January 1, 2027, making it among the first European Union members to restrict such access through law. Parliament passed the measure this week.

The law covers TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X, and requires those services to build age-verification systems that are proportionate and reliable. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the bill "difficult but necessary." Digital governance and AI minister Dimitris Papastergiou said his government did not wait for European Union rules to act. "It would have been very easy to do absolutely nothing today and wait for the perfect European law. But the challenge is here," Papastergiou said. "Children are sinking into the internet every day, and I believe a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do."

Platforms that miss the requirements face fines under the EU's Digital Services Act. On the home front, parents must install either Kids Wallet or Gov.gr, state-backed applications that pair with a child's device and cut off access to covered services. Papastergiou said the apps run on "age tokens" that confirm a person's age while exposing minimal personal data.

Mitsotakis pushed the bill through with his government's majority after minority parties voted against it. Greece banned mobile phones in schools in 2024, and polls show Greek adults broadly back the new restriction. The prime minister has set a goal of pressing the European Union toward similar rules. The European Commission recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which sets an outright ban only for children under 13. Australia enacted the first nationwide social media ban for children, and its age verification rollout has proved difficult to carry out. Greece's state apps will face the same test when the law takes effect.