Greece Passes a Law Banning Social Media for Kids Under 15
Leah and Sam explain how Greece's national lawmakers approved a law banning children under fifteen from using social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook starting January 1, 2027, how the calendar-year age rule counts everyone born in 2012 as eligible on New Year's Day while blocking kids born in 2013 or later without a parental-consent exception, how government phone apps like Kids Wallet send a coded yes-or-no message so users do not have to share their name, birthday, or identification-card number with social media companies, why companies rather than children or parents face fines under European Union rules, and why opposition lawmakers and free-speech defenders debated whether parent-supervised accounts for thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds would work better than a complete ban.
Show notes
In this episode
- 0:01 Opening
- 0:17 Greece passes a law banning social media for kids under 15
- 4:55 Recap and outro
Sources and context
- Greece passes a law banning social media for kids under 15: Greek Ministry of Digital Governance — Bill and FAQ on minors' access to social networks and Hellenic Parliament — Plenary session record (October 22, 2026) and Reuters — Greece passes social media ban for children under 15 and Deutsche Welle — Greece passes social media ban for kids under 15 and Al Jazeera — Greece joins push to ban social media for minors and RFI — New Greece law bans social media for under-15s and eKathimerini — Greece passes social media ban for children under 15 and Euronews — Greece’s social media ban for under-15s: What you need to know
