The government is moving decisively to ban the use of social media for minors under the age of 15, with the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, outlining the roadmap for combating digital addiction from the ERT podium. The Minister made it clear that the restrictions affect giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, while sending a clear message to tech companies that “Platforms should prepare themselves. With as much certainty as they can have from the data they collect, they need to identify that this account belongs to a child under the age of 15.”
According to the plan, full implementation of the measure is set for 1 January 2027, a date on which platforms “should seek confirmation of the user’s account by whatever mechanism they deem appropriate”. In this context, Papastergiou announced the imposition of extremely high fines for those who do not comply with the new requirements, and suggested Kids Wallet as an ideal identification tool. Although he admitted that, due to European common market rules, “no member state can force the platform to use such a mechanism, but we can say that we have already built a secure mechanism that can be used to confirm age.”
Special emphasis was also placed on how to monitor compliance with the law, with the Minister explaining the procedure that will be followed in cases of indiscipline. He said, “Practically, a complaint can be made to the National Telecommunications and Postal Commission (NTC), the national body responsible for the operation of the Digital Services Act. EETT then notifies the equivalent body in Ireland, where most platforms are based, and the European Union is also notified,” thus ensuring that Greek legislation will have a strong impact through European institutions.
