Greece’s Parliament approved restrictions on social media access for children under 15 during a sitting that concluded early Friday, Oct. 23. The rules are due to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill passed by a majority, according to the official parliamentary record. New Democracy supported it, PASOK voted “present” on the bill as a whole, and the other parties recorded in the vote opposed it.
The decision turns Greece’s previously announced social media restrictions into approved legislation. Platforms will carry responsibility for checking whether users meet the age requirement, rather than relying only on parents to manage their children’s accounts.
One detail affects how the age limit will work: the measure treats Jan. 1 as the birthday of everyone born in the same calendar year. Children born in 2012 will therefore meet the threshold from January 2027, even if their actual 15th birthday falls later that year.
Providers can use Kids Wallet or Gov.gr Wallet to verify age, but the legislation does not require one particular application. Other methods must meet standards for reliability, proportionality and privacy. The Digital Governance Ministry says the checks should establish whether someone meets the age threshold without passing unnecessary personal information to a platform.
The government has presented the policy as a way to reduce harmful online use and support families, building on measures including restrictions on mobile phones in schools.
In the debate, PASOK proposed allowing 13- and 14-year-olds to use restricted accounts with parental supervision. The government’s approach sets a single national threshold while work on a common European framework continues.
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