It was a TikTok video many Greek teens and tweens may not have appreciated, one from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to his country's youth that began: "6-7 ... Now that I have your attention." What followed was the news that kids under 15 are set to be locked out of social media starting Jan. 1, 2027. In announcing the move Wednesday, Mitsotakis linked the platforms to rising anxiety, sleep issues, and addictive design and said Greece aims to nudge the European Union in the same direction. The measure comes with strong domestic backing—about 80% support it, per a February poll—and follows bans on phones in schools and new parental control tools.
Beginning in 2027, social media platforms will be expected to block underage accounts or risk penalties of up to 6% of global revenue, Reuters reports. Parliament will vote on the ban in mid-2026, with the New York Times reporting there is slim opposition to it. The move follows Australia's ban for under-16s, which doesn't appear to have been a rousing success. A compliance update published in March found:
- "Of the parents who reported their child had an account on each platform prior to 10 December 2025, around 7 in 10 reported that their child still had an account on Facebook (63.6%), Instagram (69.1%), Snapchat (69.4%), and TikTok (69.3%). Around 3 in 10 reported that their child no longer had an account. One in two of these parents (48.5%) reported that their child still had an account on YouTube following the age restrictions coming into effect."
As for how that's possible, the Washington Post editorial board reports kids simply created new accounts "using fake ages and an adult-looking face. ... By inevitably being so easy to circumvent, bans encourage lawbreaking. If kids know something is illegal but everyone does it anyway, they can develop an unhealthy disregard for other sensible but unpopular statutes."
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