Greece is making ready to roll out sweeping new restrictions on minors’ on-line exercise, set to start in October 2025. Under the plan, kids beneath 15 will mechanically be blocked from accessing social media platforms, whereas these beneath 18 will face obstacles to web sites selling or promoting playing, alcohol, tobacco, and pornography. The measures, which place management on the machine stage moderately than on social media platforms themselves, will make Greece the primary European Union member to introduce such a framework.
Device-Level Restrictions and the Role of Parents
Unlike Australia, the place social media platforms will implement age limits by requiring id verification, Greece’s mannequin is constructed into the units themselves. Parents will likely be accountable for activating the controls by registering their little one’s data. Once enabled, the federal government’s Kids Wallet app will decide the consumer’s age and apply computerized filters. For customers beneath 15, this implies social media purposes akin to Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X will likely be blocked outright. For these between 15 and 17, the identical system will forestall entry to on-line playing websites, grownup leisure, alcohol and tobacco retailers, and courting providers like Tinder.
Government sources confirmed that the Kids Wallet software integrates with Greece’s digital registry, permitting seamless age verification. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defined, the initiative offers dad and mom “an easy-to-use parental control app for social media use,” whereas shifting duty from platforms to units.
European Commission and International Influence
The European Commission has been intently concerned in testing age verification techniques throughout a number of member states, together with France, Spain, Denmark, and Italy. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has burdened the significance of those trials, noting that the EU will work intently with Australia, which in October 2025 will implement its personal ban on social media use for under-16s. Von der Leyen described Australia’s guidelines as “the world’s first pioneering social media ban” and mentioned Europe would study from its software.
A delegation from the European Commission is predicted in Athens to evaluation Greece’s preparations and alternate technical experience. The EU’s objective is to guarantee consistency throughout member states, whereas permitting for variations in execution. Greece, by shifting forward first, is positioning itself because the testing floor for the area.
Political Leadership and Public Concerns
Mitsotakis has constantly underlined the dangers of unrestricted social media use. Speaking at a UN occasion hosted by Australia, he warned: “We are conducting the largest uncontrolled experiment ever on the minds of our children. We do not know what the consequences will be, but we are almost certain that they will not be positive.” He additionally argued that “we cannot invoke the difficulties in implementing these policies as an excuse for not doing anything about the problem.”
The Prime Minister pointed to earlier initiatives, akin to banning cell phones in colleges, which he described as having a “transformational impact on the educational experience.” These measures, he added, present Greece’s willpower to confront the risks of digital platforms head-on.
Cooperation With Tech Companies
Greek authorities have been in talks with main know-how companies, together with Google, to discover the most effective implementation strategies. Although firms have provided proposals, remaining choices will relaxation with the Prime Minister. According to the Ministry of Digital Governance, the strategy will rely closely on EU know-how and adapt it to Greece’s nationwide techniques.
While Australia’s framework compels platforms themselves to take duty, Greece’s strategy is seen as stricter in one key respect: it blocks minors even when they try to view content material with out logging in, a loophole that also exists in Australia’s plan.
Broader Motivations Behind the Ban
The push for restrictions comes amid mounting proof that compulsive scrolling on platforms like TikTok has damaging results on younger customers. Studies have linked extreme use of short-form video content material to consideration issues, nervousness, melancholy, and diminished tutorial efficiency. Experts argue that algorithms encourage overconsumption by continually releasing dopamine “bursts,” in a course of in contrast to addictive substances.
Mitsotakis has known as this “a digital age of majority,” arguing that leaders have an obligation to act primarily based on scientific findings. He has additionally urged worldwide cooperation, warning that unchecked publicity to manipulative content material and predators poses a world problem.
With October’s deadline approaching, Greece seems set to develop into the primary EU nation to put these concepts into follow, reshaping how minors work together with social media and different on-line platforms.
Source:
“End of social media for children up to 15 years old from October”, protothema.gr, September 28, 2025.
