Greece's Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, has outlined how a planned ban on social media use by children under 15 will be implemented, as part of broader efforts to address what the government describes as digital addiction among minors.
The restriction will apply to major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. According to the minister, responsibility for enforcement will largely fall on the platforms themselves. "The platforms will have to prepare," he said, adding that, based on the data they already collect, they must be able to identify whether "this account belongs to a child under 15".
The measure is scheduled to come into force on 1 January 2027. From that date, Papastergiou said platforms will be required to request account verification "with whatever mechanism they deem appropriate" to confirm users' age. He also warned of "high fines for those platforms that do not comply", noting that penalties would be imposed at the level of their headquarters.
The government is encouraging companies to use Greece's proposed "Kids Wallet" system for age verification, although the minister acknowledged the limits of national authority within the EU single market. "No member state can oblige a platform to use such a mechanism," he said, adding that Greece has nonetheless developed "a secure mechanism" that could be adopted.
In cases of non-compliance, Papastergiou said complaints can be submitted to the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), which would then coordinate with regulators and inform EU authorities, in line with the cross-border oversight framework governing digital platforms in Europe.
