Greece to ban social media for under 15-year-olds: PM

Greece will prohibition entree to κοινωνικά media for children under 15 from January 1, 2027, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday, the latest state to bash so arsenic interest grows implicit the platforms’ impact.

“We person decided to spell up with a hard but indispensable measure: prohibition entree to κοινωνικά media for children under 15 years old,” helium said successful a video posted connected TikTok.

“Greece is among the archetypal countries successful the world to follow such a measure,” the premier curate said, adding that helium would enactment unit connected the European Union to travel suit.

Mitsotakis said helium used κοινωνικά media to marque the announcement so helium could code teenagers and children directly: “I cognize that some of you are going to beryllium angry…. Our purpose is not to support you distant from technology but to combat addiction to definite applications that harms your innocence and your freedom.”

“Science is clear: when a kid is successful beforehand of screens for hours, their encephalon does not rest,” helium said.

In a missive to EU main Ursula von der Leyen, Mitsotakis called for a “unified European framework” to beryllium successful spot by the extremity of 2026.

He called for a European “Digital Age of Majority” astatine 15, with biannual property re-verification by platforms to guarantee continuous compliance and forestall circumvention of entree controls.

A increasing assemblage of probe suggests too overmuch clip online is taking a toll connected teen well-being.

Greek authorities spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said children calved from 2012 onwards will beryllium barred from platforms that beforehand “endless scrolling” — Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Snapchat.

Messaging and video platforms such arsenic Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber and YouTube are not affected, Marinakis said.

“The database of platforms is dynamic. This means that if others with the aforesaid characteristics emerge, it will, of course, beryllium updated accordingly,” Marinakis said.

Platforms will beryllium obliged to verify user age, helium said.

“Our extremity is not to spot the load of work connected children, but to unit the platforms to follow much effectual policies,” Marinakis said.

Australia successful December became the archetypal state successful the world to necessitate TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and different top sites to region accounts held by under-16s, oregon look dense fines.

However, three months since the landmark laws came into effect, Australia’s online information watchdog has recovered a “substantial proportionality of Australian children” were still scrolling banned platforms.

Indonesia began enforcing a κοινωνικά media prohibition for users under the property of 16 successful March, and has already issued summons letters to Google and Meta implicit their nonaccomplishment to comply with the law.

Austria announced past period it would σύντομα prohibition κοινωνικά media for children up to the property of 14, with a program to contiguous a caller instrumentality “as aboriginal arsenic this summer”.

Spain and Denmark person besides announced their volition to present a integer property of bulk for κοινωνικά networks.

Source: AFP