ATHENS, October 2026 — Three Greek ministers were set to present the framework for a social media age limit of 15 for children on Monday 12 October, before the bill goes to Parliament.
Minister of State Akis Skertsos, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou were due to unveil the rules at 11am Athens time (7pm AEDT). The event was at the Bodossakis Foundation building in Athens.
Under the draft law, the social media age limit takes effect on 1 January 2027. From that date, children under 15 will not be able to access social media platforms.
The rules count age by calendar year. As a result, all children born in the same year will reach the limit on 1 January.
How platforms will verify users
Platforms will have to verify ages with reliable and proportionate tools. Those tools must limit the data they collect and protect privacy, but the bill does not impose one specific method.
The bill lists two government apps, Kids.gov.gr Wallet and Gov.gr Wallet, as suitable examples. They meet European rules on reliability, data minimisation and privacy.
Still, platforms may use other equivalent tools to apply the social media age limit, provided they comply with EU law and European technical specifications.
Greek City Times reported in April that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis planned to ban social media for children under 15.
Australia’s ban on social media accounts for under-16s took effect in December 2025. The eSafety Commissioner enforces it.
The wider EU KIDS Act
At the same time, the Greek social media age limit sits alongside a broader European proposal, the EU KIDS Act. That proposal is not yet law, and its final form will depend on the EU legislative process.
Unlike the Greek bill, the EU plan also covers video-sharing platforms, online games, app stores and AI chatbots. Its obligations would vary by service and risk.
In particular, it would allow a restricted account for children aged 13 to 14. The platform would have to offer one, and a parent or guardian would have to set it up.
Those accounts would also come with mandatory parental tools, an optional daily limit of one hour and controls on new contacts. Children under 13 could not hold an account in their own name.
Platforms would carry the main responsibility for enforcing the rules. Very large platforms would also submit a compliance plan to the European Commission and pay for an independent audit.
Parents and app stores would play only a supporting role. In contrast, the Greek social media age limit already has a start date of 1 January 2027.
Source: ERT News
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