Greece announces ban on social media access for under-15s

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted a video on TikTok announcing the planned ban on social media access for children under the age of 15.

He stated following, CE Report quotes ANA-MPA.

"Six-Seven...

Now that I have your attention-hello everyone.

This video won’t be #top or #viral, but there’s a serious reason I want to speak to you here.

I want to be honest with you. In recent years, I’ve spoken with many parents, and they all tell me roughly the same thing: their children don’t sleep well, they feel anxious easily, and they are constantly on their phones.

But I’ve also spoken with many of you. Many young people tell me they feel exhausted from comparisons, from comments, from the pressure to always be online.

Science is clear: when a child spends hours in front of a screen, the mind doesn’t rest. That’s why we’ve decided to move forward with something difficult, but necessary - to ban access to social media for children under 15. The regulation will be introduced in the summer of 2026 and will come into force on January 1, 2027. Greece will be among the first countries to take such an initiative -and I am confident it won’t be the last. Our goal is also to push the EU in this direction.

Now, I’m sure many younger people will be upset with me. If I were your age, I might feel the same way. But our role - and my role - is not always to be pleasant.

Even if you disagree today, I simply ask you to think about it and discuss it with your friends. If something makes us feel more anxious, worse, or less good than we truly are, then perhaps it’s worth putting on the brakes.

Our goal is not to distance you from technology -which can be a source of inspiration, knowledge, and creativity. But the addictive design of certain applications, and a business model based on capturing your attention - on how long you stay in front of your screen - takes away your innocence and your freedom. That has to stop somewhere.

And I want to say something to parents: no law can replace your presence. This policy is simply a tool to help you. I genuinely believe that in a few years, we will all see this as something positive and self-evident."