The Greek government presented on Monday its long-awaited national strategy aiming to protect minors from internet addiction and social media overexposure.
The National Strategy for the Protection of Minors on Internet Addiction was launched during an event at the Athens Conservatory, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Greece stopped short of an outright ban on social media for minors, which the Greek Prime Minister doubted would be effective. Instead, the proposed plan focuses on strengthening parental controls and age verification, and setting time limits for children using their mobile phones.
“It is the image of children glued to a mobile phone who lose touch with the world,” Mitsotakis said during the event. “We discover along the way that they have severe psychological problems—depression, isolation, distraction. It has to do with the dark side of technology.”
Mitsotakis further said that while parents must discuss the issue with their children, the government must also examine its regulatory role. Social media companies, he added, must be held accountable as to how they operate, since the algorithms they are using are designed to maximize the screen time of those using their apps.
How will Greece’s strategy to protect minors roll out?
Greece’s national strategy to protect minors from online dangers will roll out in several phases.
After the event, the government launched a website (parco.gov.gr) that parents can use as a tool. It provides user-friendly guides and instructions on how to set time and application limits on children’s mobile devices.
The Greek government plans to launch another tool in the spring, the “Kids Wallet” app. It will function as a digital wallet, verifying the child’s real age, and will assist parents with controlling their children’s time online. The parent will be able to limit the daily usage of the child’s phone from one to four hours per day.
Mitsotakis said that the Kids Wallet could also be used in other EU countries.
Greece has been debating for months how to curb digital addiction among young users under 15. Today’s presentation of the National Strategy for the Protection of Minors on Internet Addiction comes after the Greek Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers announced its launch in mid-December.
Social media delinquency among young users is a European issue
The plans to address the problem of social media delinquency among young users have been brought together by the Greek Prime Minister’s office, who has described the problem as a pan-European crisis.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in October, Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized the need for coordinated action at the European Union level, highlighting the digital footprint of bullying and its connection to real-world violence. “We are facing a global crisis that goes beyond Greece,” Mitsotakis said. “There will be a need for regulatory intervention, likely at the EU level, to tackle this issue at its root.”
Discussions are under way to establish a digital maturity age of 15 across the European Union, with restrictions imposed by all member-states. Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance, has called the issue “urgent,” saying that collaboration between EU countries is pivotal in pressuring tech giants to adopt systems that can accurately verify the user’s age, since, according to Papastergiou, “age verification is the most difficult thing to bring off.”
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