- Greece’s parliament has passed a law banning children under 15 from social media, starting January 1, 2027.
- Platforms must verify users’ ages, and the government is pointing to its Kids Wallet app as the privacy-friendly way to do it.
- Greece follows Australia’s lead, while France’s attempt was struck down and the UK is preparing its own rules.
Greece has passed a law banning children under 15 from social media, making it one of the first European countries to turn a teen social media ban into law.
The restrictions take effect on January 1, 2027, and cover platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Lawmakers approved the bill late on October 22 after a debate lasting more than 16 hours. Only the governing New Democracy party voted in favor, while PASOK abstained and five other opposition parties voted against.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis first announced the plan in April, calling it a “difficult but necessary measure,” and blaming social media for rising anxiety, poor sleep, and addictive design.
As with similar laws elsewhere, the job of checking ages falls on the platforms. That has privacy advocates worried, and it’s likely to spark the usual surge of interest in the best VPN apps.
How Greece’s ban will work
The law is short but strict. Parents can’t give their children permission to sign up, and accounts created before January won’t be exempt.
Which services are covered depends on how they work rather than what they’re called, with LinkedIn named alongside the big three. Messaging apps remain available to under-15s.
When a platform can’t confirm a user’s age, it will display a QR code to be scanned with Kids Wallet, a government app.
The app only tells the platform whether the user is over or under 15; it doesn't reveal the age of the individual or any other personal information. “We do not give platforms any of our children’s personal data whatsoever,” said Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou.
Greece’s broadcasting council and data protection authority will supervise compliance, with the European Commission handling the largest platforms under the Digital Services Act.
When the plans were announced in May, 25 organizations warned that, in practice, everyone in Greece could have to prove their age, chipping away at online anonymity.
This criticism likely doesn't bother the Greek government, however, since it is also considering plans to end anonymous social media profiles altogether. While online anonymity is important, the situation does change depending on the type of online activity: private or public.
Greece joins a growing list
Australia’s under-16 ban took effect on December 10, 2025, the first of its kind. France passed its own under-15 ban, but its Constitutional Council struck it down in August on freedom of expression grounds.
The UK plans to ban under-16s from social media from spring 2027, though it has ruled out restricting VPNs to enforce it. Slovenia, Spain, and Austria are working on similar measures, and the EU is drafting its own Kids Act, which Greece says it will adapt to.
