Greece to ban social media for under-15s from 2027, calls on EU action

Wednesday, Greece's government passed a law that will prevent anyone under 15 years of age from accessing social media services starting on January 1, 2027. Greece becomes the first member of the European Union to enact such a law as part of its implementation of the Digital Services Act, which imposes penalties for non-compliance. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the new law through a video on the social media site TikTok, stating that screen addiction leads to anxiety, sleep disturbances, and peer pressure among children and adolescents. If social media services fail to comply with the new law, they could be fined up to 6% of their worldwide profits.

According to Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, the law will be enforced by requiring all devices to verify the ages of users, and by blocking the accounts of users under 15 years of age, regardless of whether their parents gave consent for them to create an account. State-mandated applications will scan networks, aligning with existing school mobile phone prohibitions and parental control platforms. February polling showed 80% public support for the initiative.

Mitsotakis wrote European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging EU-wide "digital age of majority" at 15, including harmonized verification, regular rechecks and unified penalties by December 2026. National approaches risk circumvention through VPNs, he argued, while fragmented rules burden platforms unevenly across single markets.

Momentum builds across Europe: Poland drafts under-15 bans with 6% revenue fines, Germany’s CDU pushes 16-year limits, while France, Spain, Denmark and Britain advance restrictions following Australia’s pioneering under-16 prohibition. TikTok faces separate EU charges over addictive design lacking nighttime limits and screen management.

Meta, TikTok and X stocks dipped 2-4% on Greek news, reflecting $50 billion EU revenue exposure. Snapchat trails with weaker age controls, while ByteDance accelerates European data localization.

Greek measure extends school phone bans, creating comprehensive minors framework amid 2025 mental health crisis where 30% of teens reported daily platform dependency. Enforcement leverages DSA’s existing verification mandates, avoiding new infrastructure.

Mitsotakis positioned Greece as trendsetter: "difficult but necessary" step other nations will follow, shifting liability from parents to platforms designing compulsive engagement.