Greece to bar under-15s from social media from January 2027

The Greek government will next week set out its plan to stop children under 15 from using social media, ahead of a law that would block their access from January 1, 2027.

The framework will be presented on Monday, October 12, by three ministers: State Minister Akis Skertsos, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou. They will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. at the Bodosakeio Mansion in Athens, before the government submits a bill to Parliament.

How the age checks would work

Details of the proposal released so far centre on how platforms would establish a user's age. Papastergiou has previously described the Kids Wallet application, the tool the government intends to use for verification.

The system is designed to avoid handing over personal data. It will not disclose a user's date of birth or any other identifying information, according to the government's outline. Instead, it will tell a platform only whether the person meets the age limit or falls short of it.

The government is preparing to bring the legislation before Parliament, and Monday's presentation is expected to give further detail on the rules governing children's access to the platforms.

Why it matters

If passed, the law would place Greece among the countries imposing a hard age floor on social media rather than relying on the platforms' own checks. Families with children approaching the cutoff, and young teenagers who use the platforms daily, would see access switched off at the start of 2027.

The announcement comes in a period of close scrutiny of the platforms' handling of young users. Under the Digital Services Act, the EU already requires the largest platforms, those with more than 45 million monthly users in the Union, to identify and reduce risks including harm to children, to offer a feed not based on profiling, and to avoid deceptive design.

Courtrooms have also been busy. On 24 March 2026 a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable under the state's Unfair Practices Act for misleading the public about the safety of its platforms, ordering $375 million, about £276 million, in civil penalties at $5,000 per violation, in a case brought by the state's Attorney General. The next day, a Los Angeles jury found Meta, over Instagram, and Google, over YouTube, liable in the case of a young woman known in proceedings as K.G.M.

A settlement announced on 26 August between Meta and US states includes a default two-hour daily limit on teen accounts, a block from midnight to 6am, likes hidden by default, stronger age checks and the removal of identified under-13 accounts. A trial of two further personal injury plaintiffs against Meta, YouTube and Snap is set to begin in Los Angeles on 28 October 2026, and TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube settled with a plaintiff rather than face a second trial that had been due in July.

For Greek parents asking whether the new rules will hold, the answer will come when the bill reaches Parliament, with Monday's news conference expected to fill in the detail.

Update, 12 October 2026

The bill has been submitted to Parliament and, according to Skertsos, is expected to be passed on Thursday 22 October. The restrictions will apply to children born in 2013 or later and to existing accounts, and parental consent cannot override the age limit. The legislation contains six articles and covers Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with a possible extension to Snapchat still under examination. Papastergiou said platforms must block users they know to be under 15, otherwise generate a QR code for the Kids Wallet app, which shares no personal data. Georgiadis warned that people could go to court to seek compensation if platforms fail to comply, and no fines apply to children or parents.