Greece’s Parliament has approved legislation barring children under 15 from covered social networking services, with the restriction scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. Social media platforms will be responsible for enforcing the age limit, although questions remain about how they will verify users’ ages while protecting their privacy.
The bill was approved on October 23, after a parliamentary session that began the previous day and continued past midnight. Only the governing New Democracy party supported it in principle. PASOK voted “present,” while the other opposition parties voted against it.
Cosmos Philly reported on the proposed restriction earlier this year, when public support was already strong but questions about age verification and enforcement remained unresolved.
The government says the restriction is intended to protect children from risks associated with excessive social media use, including disrupted sleep, difficulty concentrating, cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful content. Ministers have argued that technology companies must take greater responsibility for protecting younger users rather than leaving the burden entirely to parents.
Which children and platforms are affected?
The legislation uses an unusual method of calculating age. For its purposes, everyone born in the same calendar year is treated as having a birthday on January 1.
When the restriction begins in 2027, children born in 2013 or later will be barred from covered social networking services. Those born in 2012 will be considered old enough, even if their actual 15th birthday falls later in the year.
The rule applies to existing accounts as well as new ones. Parents cannot override the restriction by giving their consent, and there is no exception for supervised accounts belonging to 13- or 14-year-olds.
The government’s published guidance identifies Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn as examples of covered services. However, the legislation does not contain a fixed list of platforms. The treatment of services combining social networking with other functions, including video sharing and messaging, still requires clarification.
The restriction does not amount to a general ban on internet access, smartphones, or educational technology.
How will age verification work?
Social media companies will be responsible for applying the age restriction. The government says they must use reliable and proportionate verification methods rather than simply accepting a date of birth entered by the user.
Greece has identified two existing government applications, Gov.gr Wallet and Kids Wallet, as possible tools. Under the approach described by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou, a platform could receive confirmation that a user meets the minimum age without receiving their name, exact date of birth, or identification number.
The legislative text permits the use of these tools but does not require a particular verification method. Platforms may use other suitable systems that comply with European requirements. Parents are not currently required to register for Kids Wallet or another application.
The new age limit does not replace the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies directly in Greece alongside national data-protection legislation. The restriction determines who may access covered services, while the GDPR governs how personal information may be processed to enforce it.
As the Hellenic Data Protection Authority explains, the GDPR remains part of Greece’s governing legal framework. Confirming someone’s age without revealing their identity could reduce the amount of personal information collected. Whether particular verification methods meet GDPR requirements will depend on their design and implementation.
Who will enforce the ban?
Enforcement will operate through the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In Greece, the National Council for Radio and Television and the Hellenic Data Protection Authority will oversee the restriction within their respective responsibilities. For platforms established elsewhere in the EU, enforcement involves cooperation with regulators in those countries. The European Commission also has powers over very large online platforms.
Existing European rules allow penalties reaching 6% of a company’s worldwide annual turnover for qualifying violations. Such fines are not automatic, and the Greek legislation does not create a separate penalty system. Children and parents will not face new fines or criminal penalties under the measure.
Opposition parties and parliamentary experts raise concerns
The debate revealed disagreement over whether a blanket ban is the best approach to protecting children online.
PASOK proposed an alternative allowing 13- and 14-year-olds to use restricted accounts under parental supervision. The party argued that protections should reflect children’s ages and developing independence. Other opposition lawmakers questioned whether platforms could reliably enforce the ban and whether families would have equal access to the necessary verification tools.
The concerns extended beyond party politics.
In an October 21 report, the Hellenic Parliament’s Scientific Service raised questions about the legislation’s scope and its relationship with European law.
The report noted that the law does not precisely define every service subject to the restriction. That could create uncertainty for platforms where social networking is only one feature of a broader service.
It also examined whether a blanket restriction is proportionate, given children’s rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and participation in social life. The Scientific Service emphasized that restrictions on these rights require careful balancing against the public interest in protecting children’s health and safety, supported by rigorous scientific evidence.
Greece and the wider European debate
Greece is among a growing number of countries adopting or considering age limits for social media.
Australia began enforcing a minimum age of 16 for social media accounts on December 10, 2025. In France, the Constitutional Council struck down an under-15 restriction in August 2026, finding that its broad scope imposed disproportionate limits on freedom of expression and lacked adequate safeguards for age verification.
The European Commission has also proposed an EU KIDS Act, which would establish common rules across member states.
Under that proposal, children younger than 13 would generally be barred from social media accounts, while 13- and 14-year-olds could use limited accounts managed by a parent or guardian. Independent accounts would be permitted from age 15.
That differs from Greece’s legislation, which does not provide an exception for parent-supervised accounts below 15. The European proposal has not yet been adopted.
How does the United States compare?
The United States has no nationwide social media age ban equivalent to Greece’s. Federal law, through the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), generally requires covered online services to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13. It does not prohibit children from using social media.
Individual states have adopted stricter rules. Florida law prohibits children under 14 from holding accounts on certain social media platforms and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds. The restrictions apply to platforms meeting specified criteria involving algorithmic content selection and features associated with prolonged use.
On October 14, 2026, a federal appeals court overturned an injunction blocking enforcement. The ruling allows Florida to enforce its restrictions while a constitutional challenge continues.
Unlike Greece’s legislation, Florida’s law permits parental consent for older teenagers. The ongoing litigation also illustrates a central difference in the American debate, where restrictions on social media accounts face scrutiny under the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of expression.
Greece’s restriction takes effect on January 1, 2027. Until then, platforms must determine how to enforce the age limit, while regulators face the task of ensuring that the methods used comply with European law.