Greece close to announcing social media ban for children under 15, source says
Greece is close to announcing restrictions on social media use for children under the age of 15, a senior government source told Reuters on Tuesday, following similar plans unveiled by Spain amid growing concern over online safety for minors.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday that his government plans to ban social media use by teenagers and introduce legislation holding platform executives accountable for failing to curb illegal content, such as hate speech. If implemented, Spain would become the first European Union country to impose nationwide age-based restrictions on social media.
Addressing the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Sánchez said platforms must adopt effective age-verification systems rather than relying on self-declared age checks.
Following Spain’s announcement, a senior Greek official said Greece was also “very close” to introducing comparable measures, which would apply to children under 15.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has previously raised the issue, citing risks to children’s safety and mental health. Speaking last year at a United Nations event in New York, he said Greece was prepared to consider age-based bans similar to those introduced in Australia, which last year became the first country to prohibit social media use for under-16s.
Proposals under discussion in Greece include blocking social media access for under-15s, strengthening age-verification tools, and expanding digital protections for minors. The government has already introduced a ban on smartphone use in schools and launched parental control tools through the gov.gr platform.
The moves come as EU institutions push for stronger safeguards for minors online, with the European Parliament supporting a minimum age of 16 for social media use across the bloc, subject to parental consent.
