The legislation is now official and can go into impact on January 1, 2027.
Greece’s parliament has handed a social media ban for teenagers underneath 15 after its prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis first introduced the measure earlier this yr. The invoice, which Mitsotakis referred to as “troublesome however mandatory,” is among the many first to be imposed within the European Union up to now and can go into impact on January 1, 2027. The brand new legislation covers platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Fb and X, and mandates that such providers apply proportionate and dependable age-verification strategies.
“It might have been very simple to do completely nothing in the present day and anticipate the right European legislation. However the problem is right here. Youngsters are sinking into the web on daily basis, and I consider a accountable authorities should do what it’s obliged to do,” stated Greece’s digital governance and AI minister, Dimitris Papastergiou.
Failure to adjust to the act will result in fines underneath the EU’s Digital Companies Act. Dad and mom would additionally must obtain apps backed by the state referred to as Children Pockets or Gov.gr which can be paired to their kid’s system and block entry. These apps, Papastergiou stated, are designed to guard privateness and reduce information collected through the use of “age tokens” that may verify somebody’s age whereas minimizing the disclosure of their private information.
The laws was opposed by Greece’s minority events, so Mitsotakis used his majority authorities to move the invoice. The nation beforehand barred cell phones in faculties in 2024, and opinion polls present that the brand new social media ban for youngsters is extensively supported by Greece’s grownup inhabitants.
Mitsotakis beforehand stated that his authorities’s “purpose is to push the European Union on this path as effectively.” The European Fee not too long ago launched the EU Children Act to just do that, however that legislation stipulates an outright ban just for youngsters underneath 13. Australia was the primary nation to enact a full social media ban for teenagers, however the age verification has proved difficult to implement.