Greece makes parents use government apps to cut off kids under 15 from social media

Greece requires parents of children under 15 to use specific government applications to restrict access to major social media platforms starting January 1, 2027. The measure, approved by Parliament this week, forces minors to use state-backed tools to verify their age before logging into services like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. This implementation makes Greece one of the first member states in the European Union to legally mandate a digital barrier for preteens.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the initiative earlier this year, describing the bill as "difficult but necessary." He stated that the government aims to push the entire European Union in the same direction. The legislation passed with support from the governing majority, while minority parties voted against it. Public opinion polls suggest the rule has broad support among Greek adults, following a 2024 ban on mobile phones in schools.

Digital governance and AI minister Dimitris Papastergiou argued that waiting for a unified EU law would have been too slow. "It would have been very easy to do absolutely nothing today and wait for the perfect European law," he said. "But the challenge is here. Children are sinking into the internet every day, and I believe a responsible government must do what it is obliged to do." The ministry claims the approach is more proactive than relying on future continental regulations.

Parents must download apps called Kids Wallet or Gov.gr to comply. These applications pair with a child's device to block access to the listed platforms. The system uses "age tokens" to confirm a user's age while minimizing the amount of personal data collected. Papastergiou stated that the apps are designed to protect privacy and limit data retention as much as possible.

Platforms that fail to implement reliable and proportionate age-verification methods face fines under the EU's Digital Services Act. The law requires services to ensure that users under 15 cannot easily bypass the restrictions. Compliance is the responsibility of the service providers, who must integrate their systems with the Greek verification framework.

The European Commission recently introduced the EU Kids Act, which proposes a similar ban but only for children under 13. Greece's threshold is lower, covering all children up to their 15th birthday. Australia was the first country to enact a full social media ban for children, though it has faced challenges in implementing age verification. Greece's model relies on domestic apps to address these technical hurdles.

The new rules take effect in six weeks. Parents of children under 15 must have the state apps installed and paired with their devices by the January 1 deadline. The government will monitor compliance through the existing digital infrastructure of the state portal.