Greece announces social media ban for children under 15, urges EU to follow

Greece has announced it will ban children under the age of 15 from accessing social media, joining a growing number of countries taking sweeping action to protect young people from the psychological harms of digital platforms.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the measure on Wednesday, citing rising anxiety, sleep problems, and the addictive design of online platforms as the driving factors behind the decision. The legislation is expected to be passed during the summer of 2026 and will enter into force on January 1, 2027.

In a notable choice of medium, Mitsotakis made the announcement in a short video posted to TikTok, saying he wanted to address teenagers and children directly. He told his young audience: “I am certain that many of you who are younger will be angry with me. If I were your age I might have felt the same. But the addictive design of some apps, the profit model that’s based on your attention on how long you spend in front of your mobile phone screen and takes away some of your innocence and freedom, must end at some point.”

Mitsotakis described the measure as a “digital cut-off,” aimed at mitigating the psychological impacts of excessive screen time, including anxiety, sleep deprivation, and the pressures of constant online comparison.

“Science is clear: when a child is in front of screens for hours, their brain does not rest,” he said. The prime minister added that the government’s goal was not to keep young people away from technology altogether, but rather to “combat addiction to certain applications that harms your innocence and your freedom.”

The scale of the challenge is underscored by data on Greek children’s online habits. According to the Greek Safer Internet Centre in Athens, 75 percent of children using social media in Greece are currently of primary-school age.

The announcement has drawn strong support from parents. “Ban them, shut them down. We’ve reached our limits… We parents need help,” one mother told Reuters on Wednesday. A public opinion poll by ALCO conducted in February showed approximately 80 percent of those surveyed approved of such a ban.

Under the new policy, minors will be prohibited from maintaining social media accounts, regardless of parental consent, and enforcement will rely on a state-mandated application installed on all personal devices. Beyond social media, the initiative also extends protections to shield minors from other online harms, including gambling, alcohol, tobacco, and explicit material.

The Greek government has already taken preliminary steps to address children’s digital exposure. It has outlawed mobile phones in schools and set up parental control platforms to limit teenagers’ screen time.

Mitsotakis framed the announcement as part of a broader international and European effort. “Greece will be among the first countries to take such an initiative,” he said. “I am certain, however, that it will not be the last. Our goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well.”

In a separate letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mitsotakis called for coordinated EU action, arguing that national measures alone would not be sufficient to protect minors from internet addiction. He proposed establishing an EU-wide “digital age of majority” at 15, mandating age verification and regular re-verification for all platforms, and setting up a harmonised enforcement and penalty framework, urging the bloc to put a unified system in place by the end of 2026.

Greece joins a growing list of nations moving to restrict children’s social media access. Australia in 2025 became the first country in the world to block access to children under 16. Indonesia began enforcing a ban for users under 16 in March 2026, and has already issued summons letters to Google and Meta over their failure to comply. Austria announced last month it would soon ban social media for children up to the age of 14, with plans to introduce new legislation as early as this summer. Spain and Denmark have also announced their intention to introduce a digital age of majority for social networks.

Slovenia, Britain, and Spain have said they are also working on similar bans, reflecting a widening international consensus that unregulated access to social media poses serious risks to children’s mental health and development.