Greece will ban under-15s from social media from next year.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed the ban on Wednesday morning, announcing it would begin on 1 January 2027.
He said rising anxiety, sleep problems and addictive platforms were to blame for the ban.
In a video message to Greek children, the PM said spending long hours in front of screens does not allow their minds to rest, and they faced growing pressure from constant comparison on social media and online comments.
“Greece will be among the first countries to take such an initiative,” Mr Mitsotakis said.
“I am certain, however, that it will not be the last. Our goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well.”
From the start of next year, platforms will need to be able to restrict users or face fines reaching up to 6% of their global turnover, according to digital governance minister Dimitris Papastergiou.
Greece’s parliament will legislate the ban in mid-2026.
There is widespread support for a social media ban among adults in Greece, with 80% supporting the restrictions, according to polling firm ALCO.
According to the Greek Safer Internet Centre in Athens, 75% of children using social media in Greece are of primary‑school age.
“Ban them, shut them down. We’ve reached our limits… We parents need help,” one mother told the Reuters news agency before the ban was announced.
Georgia Efstathiou, 43, said she had tried everything to stop her 14-year-old son from spending so much time on social media – and called on the government to intervene.
Another parent, Dimitris Daniil, 44, said he thought a ban should only be in place as a last resort.
“I’d prefer a different approach, limiting mobile phone use within the family,” he said.
“But where that’s not possible, perhaps a ban would work as the extreme remedy.”
His 14-year-old daughter Katerina said most teenagers her age have never known a world without social media.
“It is the way we learned since we were born,” she said.
“I can control it – but then again I usually get carried away.”
Phones are already banned in Greek schools, unlike the UK, and the government has set up parental control platforms to limit teenagers’ screen time.
As well as announcing the ban, Mr Mitsotakis wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to call for coordinated EU action.
He argued national measures would not be enough to protect young people and proposed establishing an EU-wide “digital age of majority” of 15.
He asked for a coordinated framework to be put in place across the bloc by the end of 2026.
In December, Australia banned under-16s from the technology, becoming the first country to do so.
Since then, there have been growing calls around the world for governments to tackle online harms faced by young people.
The case against a social media ban
A number of countries are exploring social media bans, including Slovenia, Spain and Austria, with the UK government consulting the public on social media restrictions.
As well as an all-out ban for under-16s, the consultation also explores restrictions like digital curfews and screen time limits. The results of that consultation are expected in the summer.
The Greek scheme could be the first such ban in Europe when it is introduced next year, although legislators in France may implement a ban sooner if they can get political approval.
The French Senate voted in favour of a ban last month.
However, a disagreement persists between the government, which advocates a broad ban, and the Senate, which wants to make it conditional on the publication of a list of platforms deemed dangerous for children.
If there is agreement in the coming months, a ban would come into force in September.
At the same time, a series of landmark legal trials is under way in the US, with the first two major trials recently finding social media companies liable for harming users through addictive features and design.
