Greece Parliament Votes on Social Media Ban for Under-15s

The legislation puts the burden of age verification on technology companies, and platforms that fail to comply would face significant financial penalties. The government says the measure is essential for protecting minors online. Opposition parties and watchdog groups say a blanket ban raises hard questions about how ages will be checked, what data gets collected, and whether it can work at all. The European Union is still developing its own broader framework for children’s access to digital platforms, which adds another layer to the argument.

Opposition Targets Motive and Method

The main opposition parties attack the bill from different angles:

• PASOK: Stefanos Parastatidis said the government was not acting to protect children but yourselves. The party wants age-tiered protections, more digital literacy, and greater parental involvement.
• SYRIZA: Lawmaker Elena Akrita questioned whether age-verification systems are ready, how personal data would be protected, and whether children would simply move to less regulated services.
• Communist Party of Greece: Vivi Daga linked addictive design and harmful content to profit-driven tech companies and warned that widespread age verification could lead to broader data collection.
• Course of Freedom: The party called the ban a digital barbed wire fence and demanded specifics on algorithmic controls and platform obligations.

Minister of State Akis Skertsos defended the bill and accused the opposition of irresponsibility, arguing that resistance could let tech companies delay compliance. He said the measure aligns with existing European frameworks and rejected waiting for new EU rules. Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou argued that platforms, not parents, should be responsible for age enforcement.

Age Checks Still Have to Be Built

Papastergiou pointed to Kids Wallet, a Greek digital service, as a possible verification tool. It would only confirm whether a user is above or below the age threshold, without revealing a birth date. He also confirmed that while such mechanisms exist for other purposes, their connection to social media platforms is not yet in place and must be tested before the January 1, 2027 deadline.

Several child and health organizations, including the National Organization for the Prevention and Management of Addictions, support age restrictions in principle. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority and the Greek Ombudsman’s Office for Children have attached conditions: verification that avoids generalized identification or monitoring, and an assessment of the technical solution. Greece’s Cyber Crime Division has separately flagged enforcement gaps, including children using VPNs, other people’s accounts, and limits in monitoring.

Hashlytics Take

The vote is the easy part. The law’s credibility now rests on a verification tool that, by the minister’s own account, is not yet connected to the platforms it is meant to police, with the deadline less than three months away. Kids Wallet answers the privacy objection in design, since it confirms an age bracket and nothing more, but the data protection authority has asked for exactly the kind of technical assessment that takes time. The VPN and borrowed-account problem raised by the Cyber Crime Division also means a perfect check at the front door still leaves side doors open. If the integration slips, Greece will have a ban on paper and a fight with platforms over who was supposed to be ready.