Emphasizing the urgency of digital safeguards, Minister of State Akis Skertsos asserted to lawmakers, “We don’t have any more time to waste,” as officials defended new youth internet regulations during intense legislative discussions. The Greek parliament sanctioned the legislation late on October 22 following an exhaustive session lasting upwards of 16 hours, as broadcast by state media outlet ERT. Only the ruling New Democracy faction cast affirmative votes for the measure, whereas PASOK chose to abstain. Meanwhile, parliamentary adversaries including SYRIZA, Greek Solution, Niki, Course of Freedom, and the Communist Party resisted the bill over implementation and constitutional anxieties.
Rather than relying on site titles, compliance requirements will be determined by how each digital service operates, according to reporting from Proto Thema. Networks requiring verification will demand age confirmation without grandfathering active profiles or permitting guardians to override the prohibition. When systems fail to verify a user’s status, they must present a QR code linkable to Kids Wallet, an official mobile application that confirms minor status without disclosing identities or birthdays. Unveiling the technical architecture, Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou stated, “We do not give platforms any of our children’s personal data whatsoever.”
Under the new statutory mandate set to start on January 1, 2027, popular services like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram will be prohibited for youths younger than 15. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis granted tech firms approximately two and a half months to design privacy-focused age validation tools. Domestic monitoring will be handled by Greece’s data protection authority and national broadcasting council, while the European Commission manages major tech corporations through the Digital Services Act. Notably, the legislation avoids imposing fresh financial penalties directly on minors or their legal guardians.
International efforts to shield youth online have yielded varied outcomes across different jurisdictions. Australia successfully implemented an under-16 online platform ban in December 2025, whereas France’s Constitutional Council invalidated an under-15 prohibition on August 14 for excessively infringing upon free speech rights. To address these technical hurdles, Greece is currently collaborating with six other EU partners alongside the European Commission to build standardized age-checking technology.
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