Greece intends to “soon” ban access to social media for children and adolescents under 15, government sources tell Kathimerini , reporting that “working groups have been established.”
At the same time, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, states that the ministry is ready to implement the measure from the day it is announced by the Prime Minister.
“Europe was forced to issue a common directive on age verification in the summer – we are the only country that has implemented it,” he notes, referring to the Kids Wallet applications – the digital parental control tool developed by the Greek government – and Wallet, through which the age of social media users in Greece will be confirmed. He expects that France, for example, will be ready for a similar type of age verification within the next two months. “Other countries will implement it more simply, probably based on the Australian model,” he adds.
The Ministry of Digital Governance is ready to implement the measure from the day it is announced by the Prime Minister, according to Dimitris Papastergiou.
It is recalled that Australia was the first to legislate to restrict teenagers' access to social media, with the relevant law being in force since December 10. As announced by the Australian Telecommunications Security Regulatory Authority last month, since the day the law was implemented, they approved the removal of 4,7 million user accounts from specific social networking platforms. Since December 10, platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, X, as well as streaming platforms Kick and Twitch, have been required to prohibit access to users under the age of 16.
Spain: Will ban children under 16 from accessing social media
But other countries are following Australia's lead. Yesterday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spain intends to implement a similar ban. He stressed that from next week, teenagers under the age of 16 living in Spain will no longer have access to social media platforms, indicating that this is just one of five measures the Spanish government will take against the platforms.
“Digital Wild West”
“Today, our children are exposed to a space that was never meant to be discovered on their own: a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence. We will not accept it any longer. We will protect them from the digital Wild West,” the Spanish prime minister stressed yesterday. At the same time, according to a bill passed by French lawmakers last week, the use of social media by children under 15 will be banned, as will the use of mobile phones in schools. Although the bill has also been supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, before it can be implemented it must also pass the Senate, where it will be debated in the coming weeks. “The emotions of our children and adolescents are not for sale or manipulation, by American platforms or Chinese algorithms,” the French president said.
Portugal cuts off social media for under-16s
In Great Britain, the House of Lords has supported a similar ban, but it must also pass the House of Commons before it can become law. Denmark has announced that it will ban the use of social media by children under 15, but the measure is not as strict as Australia's, as parents will be able to give access to children aged 13 and over if they wish.
Portugal may also soon ban teenagers under 16 from accessing platforms. According to a bill submitted to the Portuguese parliament the day before yesterday, teenagers aged 13 to 16 will not be able to access social media without the consent of their parents, while platforms are required to introduce an age verification and parental permission system compatible with the software used by the Portuguese administration. “The digital adulthood for autonomous access to the platforms, services, games and applications targeted by this law is set at 16 years,” lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Alliance party wrote in a text they presented to parliament.
France plans to ban social media for children under 15
In Germany, children and teenagers aged 13 to 16 use social media only with their parents' permission, but the country is discussing tightening the measure and moving towards a complete ban on access to platforms for these age groups.
Outside Europe
Countries outside Europe are also considering similar measures. In India, the states of Goa and Andhra Pradesh are considering banning children from using social media, amid growing concerns about the impact on their mental health in a country with more than a billion internet users. Malaysia passed a similar law in November and is expected to implement it soon.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
