ATHENS: Greece plans to ban minors under the age of 15 from accessing social media in future, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on TikTok on Wednesday.
He said that once approved by lawmakers, the new law would come into force on January 1, 2027. Mitsotakis holds a comfortable majority in parliament, making the passage of the bill near-certain.
"We have decided to push ahead with something difficult but necessary," said Mitsotakis. The aim of the measure is to better protect young people from the negative effects of digital platforms, he said.
Addressing younger users directly, Mitsotakis acknowledged that the plan could meet with resistance. "I'm sure many of you younger people will be angry with me now – at your age, I might have felt the same way. But it's not our job to be pleasant," he said.
"If social media leads to feeling stressed or thinking less of oneself, then it's worth setting a limit," he added.
Mitsotakis also criticised the "addictive structure" of many platforms, which he said must be changed.
Children and young people are often defenceless against the mechanisms of these platforms, he argued, which is why the state bears a special responsibility in this area. He expressed hope that other EU member states would follow Greece's lead.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mitsotakis called for a uniform European framework by the end of the year, as national measures alone were insufficient. – dpa
