08 April 2026 , 10:38
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Greece is set to ban under-15s from accessing social media under a new law that’s set to come into effect next year.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed the ban on Wednesday morning, announcing the legislation would take effect on 1 January 2027.
Taking to TikTok, the PM announced the plans to ban children from accessing social media sites in the short video, revealing: “I am certain that many of you who are younger will be angry with me. If I were your age I might have felt the same."
Adding: “But the addictive design of some apps, the profit model that’s based on your attention – on how long you spend in front of your mobile phone screen – and takes away some of your innocence and freedom, must end at some point.”
It comes as data revealed widespread support for a ban among adults in the country, with around 80 percent supporting the restrictions.
A ban on social media for under-16s has been rejected by MPs.
@kyriakosmitsotakis_
According to the Greek Safer Internet Centre in Athens, 75 percent of children using social media in Greece are currently of primary-school age.
"Ban them, shut them down. We’ve reached our limits... We parents need help," one mother told Reuters on Wednesday.
It comes after Kate Alessi said a ban on social media for under-16s in the UK was not the “right approach” and could push children towards more dangerous and unsupervised corners of the internet.
The managing director and vice-president of Google UK and Ireland said the tech giant – which owns YouTube – is not supportive of “blanket bans” as the Government faces mounting calls to stop children having access to social media.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signaled at the weekend he was prepared to take action to curb features that keep young people addicted to social media, with the Government currently consulting on an outright ban for under-16s.
It comes after a landmark court case in the US last week saw Facebook owner Meta and Google found liable for a woman’s childhood social media addiction through deliberately designing addictive products, and ordered to pay damages of six million US dollars (£4.6 million) between them.
Politics Editor