Greek Parliament Approves Social Media Ban for Minors

Greece has set a firm deadline for restricting children from online social networking platforms. Parliament approved the measure in principle late on Thursday, October 22, with the bill barring minors from such services starting January 1, 2027. The vote exposed sharp divisions among parties, even as the government framed the law as an urgent response to a worsening public health concern.

A Contested Vote

Only the ruling New Democracy party backed the bill in principle. PASOK abstained with a 'present' vote, while SYRIZA, Elliniki Lysi, the Communist Party of Greece, Niki, and Plefsi Eleftherias voted against it. The split suggests that while few dispute the premise that excessive social media use harms children, there is far less consensus on whether a blanket legal ban is the right instrument, or whether it can be enforced without overreach or technical loopholes.

The Government's Case

Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence Minister Dimitris Papastergiou defended the legislation as necessary, proportionate, and consistent with European Union law. He argued that waiting for a comprehensive EU-wide framework was not an option given the scale of the problem. Drawing a comparison to existing restrictions on alcohol and tobacco sales to minors, he said similar age-verification logic had already proven effective in curbing underage access to regulated products within months of enforcement.

Papastergiou was direct about the stakes, describing children as being drawn into harmful online patterns daily, with consequences for mental health and development. From January 1, 2027, platforms operating in Greece will be required to classify accounts and services as either adult or minor-oriented, shifting part of the compliance burden onto the companies themselves rather than relying solely on parental oversight.

How Age Verification Would Work

Central to the law is the Kids Wallet application, a tool the minister was careful to describe as neither a purely national invention nor a data-collection mechanism. According to Papastergiou, Kids Wallet follows technical specifications issued by the European Commission, and its function is narrow by design: it confirms only whether a user is above or below the age of 15, without revealing a birth date or any other personal information.

This distinction matters in the broader context of age-verification technology, a field that has struggled to balance child protection with privacy rights. Many existing verification systems require users to submit identity documents or biometric data, creating new privacy risks even as they address old ones. A binary age signal, rather than a full identity check, represents an attempt to limit the data footprint of enforcement, though questions remain about how reliably such a system can be implemented across platforms with different technical architectures and how easily it might be circumvented by minors using falsified credentials or adult accounts.

What Comes Next

The law's real test will come in implementation. Social media companies will need to build or adapt age-classification systems before the 2027 deadline, and regulators will face the challenge of monitoring compliance across platforms based outside Greek jurisdiction. The opposition's mixed response, ranging from abstention to outright rejection, signals that the debate over enforceability, civil liberties, and the practical limits of national legislation in a borderless digital environment is far from settled. Papastergiou closed his remarks by framing the bill as a matter of responsibility to children, but turning that principle into working technical and legal architecture will be the harder task ahead.