Greece announced on 8 April that children under 15 will be banned from social media from 1 January 2027. But the ban itself is not the most significant part of the announcement. On the same day, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking for an EU-wide social media age restriction, with a harmonised enforcement framework across all member states.
What Greece is doing nationally
The ban will apply to platforms built around algorithmic feeds and endless scrolling, including Instagram, TikTok and similar services. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Viber, along with YouTube, will remain accessible. The restriction applies regardless of parental consent, closing a loophole that has weakened similar rules elsewhere. Greece’s parliament is expected to pass the legislation by mid-2026, with the ban taking effect on 1 January 2027.
Enforcement is where it gets interesting. Greece plans to use a state-mandated application installed on personal devices to verify age. Platforms will also be required to verify age at account creation and re-verify existing accounts. The Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission will oversee compliance.
This is more interventionist than anything Australia or Indonesia has done. Both of those countries placed the enforcement burden on platforms. Greece is building a government-run verification layer on top of that.
What Greece is asking Europe to do
Mitsotakis’s letter to von der Leyen proposed four things: a formal EU-wide “digital age of majority” set at 15, mandatory age verification for under-15s on all platforms, re-verification of existing users every six months, and a unified enforcement and penalty framework across all member states. He asked for it to be in place by the end of 2026.
Greece’s State Minister Akis Skertsos said explicitly that national legislation alone would not be sufficient. That is an important admission. A single country can ban accounts, but children travel, use VPNs, and create accounts in other jurisdictions. Without a coordinated European framework, national bans have the same limits that Indonesia’s ban demonstrated within days of going live.
Why this is different from Australia
Australia was the first country to ban under-16s from social media, passing its law in December 2025. But Australia acted alone and placed enforcement responsibility on the platforms. Greece is taking a different approach in two ways: it is building its own verification infrastructure rather than trusting platforms to police themselves, and it is explicitly trying to create a multinational framework rather than going it alone.
If the EU takes up the proposal, it would affect 27 member states and set the terms for how platforms operate across a market of 450 million people. That would be the most significant regulatory shift for children’s social media access since the Digital Services Act.
What this means for you right now
Greece’s ban does not take effect until January 2027. The EU proposal, if it gains any traction, would take longer still. Nothing changes for your family today. But the direction of travel is becoming clearer. Australia acted first. Indonesia followed. Greece has now asked Europe to move as a bloc. France, Austria, Spain, Denmark, the UK and Poland are all working on their own versions.
For parents in the EU, this is worth watching. An EU-wide age restriction would mean your child cannot simply create an account while visiting another country or using a VPN to appear elsewhere in Europe. It would also mean platforms bear legal responsibility for verification, with financial penalties for non-compliance.
For parents anywhere, the Greece announcement reinforces a pattern: governments are moving from optional parental controls to mandatory age restrictions. The debate is shifting from whether children should be restricted to how, and at what age. Conversations with your children about why these restrictions are happening will serve them better than waiting to see which rules eventually apply.
The Wired Parents Country Tracker is updated with Greece’s announcement. See where every country stands →
Sources: Reuters — Greece to ban social media for under-15s from 2027, 8 April 2026 Greek Reporter — Greece to implement social media ban for minors under 15, 8 April 2026 Athens Times — Greece’s social media age ban explained, 8 April 2026 Greek City Times — Greece to ban social media for under-15s from 2027, 8 April 2026
