Greece has become the latest country to draw a hard legal line around children’s social media use. On Friday, October 23, 2026, the Greek parliament approved a law banning children under 15 from social media platforms — a sweeping move that follows Australia’s world-first ban last year and adds fresh momentum to a growing global crackdown on kids’ screen time. The law takes effect on January 1, 2027, giving platforms roughly two and a half months to build working age-verification systems.
What the new law requires
The bill requires social networks to verify the age of their users and prevents children under 15 from holding accounts. Companies that fail to comply face what officials describe as harsh penalties. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said platforms have until the end of the year — about two and a half months — to devise a way to verify users’ ages while protecting their privacy. Greece is also one of seven European Union countries working with the European Commission on a shared age-verification solution.
A heated vote, passed on a party majority
The law cleared parliament after a debate that began on Thursday and stretched into Friday. Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy party used its parliamentary majority to pass the bill; no other party voted in favor. The opposition socialist Pasok party abstained after pushing an alternative proposal — a ban only for under-13s, combined with mandatory parental controls for 13- and 14-year-olds. Other left-wing and nationalist parties voted against the bill outright.
Why Greece says it did this
Mitsotakis first announced the plan in April, taking to TikTok — one of the most popular social networks among young Greeks — to explain what he called a “difficult but necessary” measure. The government says it is standing by parents to help curb the “endless scrolling” that it says deprives children of sleep, concentration and time with their friends. Critics of social platforms argue that addictive algorithms keep children glued to their screens, and warn that excessive scrolling can damage young people’s mental health.
A global trend picking up speed
Greece is far from alone in moving this way. Australia last year became the first country to introduce such a ban, barring under-16s from social media. According to an AFP tally, more than 20 countries have now passed similar laws restricting minors’ access to the apps. France passed a comparable measure, though its Constitutional Council struck it down in August — a reminder that these bans face legal as well as technical tests.
Enforcement doubts and pushback
The ban has faced pushback from free-speech advocates, and sceptics question how well age checks will actually work in practice. Underage users have long bypassed self-declared age gates, and the practical details of enforcement — how a platform proves a user is 15 without harvesting sensitive data — remain unclear. Whether harsh penalties can force global platforms to build reliable verification in two and a half months will be the first real test when the law comes into force on January 1.
Sources: Reuters — “Greece passes social media ban for children under 15” (October 23, 2026); AFP — “New Greece law bans social media for under-15s”; Channel NewsAsia/Reuters.