Greece Enacts 2027 Social Media Restrictions: State Apps Mandated for Parents

Greece has enacted one of the earliest legislative frameworks in the European Union to limit children's access to social media networks. The parliament approved the measure on October 23, 2026, setting an effective date of January 1, 2027. This action follows an announcement made earlier this year by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The law applies to major digital platforms, specifically naming TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. These services must implement age-verification methods that are both reliable and proportionate to the user base. Companies that fail to meet these technical standards will face financial penalties under the EU's Digital Services Act.

Parents bear the primary responsibility for enforcing the new rules. They must install state-backed applications named Kids Wallet or Gov.gr on their children's devices. These tools pair with the child's hardware to block access to the restricted services. Digital governance and AI minister Dimitris Papastergiou stated that the apps are designed to protect privacy and minimize data collection. He explained that the system uses age tokens to verify a person's age while disclosing the least amount of personal information possible.

Papastergiou defended the decision to proceed without waiting for a unified European standard. He noted that waiting for the perfect law would have meant doing nothing while children faced increasing digital challenges. Mitsotakis described the bill as difficult but necessary. His government relies on its parliamentary majority to pass the legislation, as minority parties opposed the measure.

The restriction builds on existing Greek policies, including a 2024 ban on mobile phones in schools. Opinion polls indicate broad support among Greek adults for the new social media limits. Mitsotakis expressed a desire to guide the European Union in a similar direction. The European Commission recently proposed the EU Kids Act, which targets an outright ban only for children under 13.

Greece is not the first nation to attempt such regulation. Australia was the first country to enact a full social media ban for children. However, implementing age verification in Australia has proven difficult. Greece's approach, which relies on state-issued software for parental control, aims to address these technical challenges directly.