One by one, European and non-European countries are gradually deciding to put a “brake” on the indiscriminate use of them by minors. Among these states is Greece, which is going to announce new measures on Monday, December 30.
The reforms expected by the government aim to restrict or even ban the internet from minors up to the age of 15, at least.
Which countries block the free access of minors to social media
First, it is worth mentioning that pthe European Union, parental consent is required for the processing of personal data for children under 16 years of age. Social media access to the personal data of each new user is a prerequisite upon registration.
However, the bloc’s 27 member states can lower this age limit to 13 years.
In which it will “protect” minors from the indiscriminate use of smartphones and technology in general. In fact, as noted by the group of experts tasked with submitting a comprehensive proposal to the government, mobile phones should carry a label that will warn users of the effects on their health.
If passed, the new bill would raise the minimum age to open a social media account from 14 to 16.
Britain may not have put the issue on the table yet. In other words, it has not yet developed a plan to prevent the free access of minors to social media. However, an expanded investigation into the impact of smartphone and social media use on children has already begun.
As announced by the British Minister of Digital Governance, this study will produce results that can offer better solutions for the safe use of the internet by all people.
At the same time, already in 2023 and the previous government, a law has been passed, according to which an age restriction has been set on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
Britain passed this bill after a 2022 survey on the use of social media by minors showed that eight to 11-year-olds were maintaining their own profiles on various platforms, despite the fact that the age limit is over 13.
The Norwegian government proposed last month to raise the age at which minors can consent to the terms required to use social media to 15 from 13.
Of course, as it turned out, many parents consent to the creation of accounts for younger children and the use of social media. Research shows that around 50% of nine-year-olds in Norway use at least one social networking platform.
The centre-left government has said it is developing a draft law that would set a minimum age limit on social media for minors. However, it is still not clear when this proposal will pass the parliament and enter into force.
The French government in 2023 passed a law requiring minors to use social media under the age of 15 only with parental consent.
At the same time, in April 2024, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, proposed tightening these measures. In particular, he said that mobile phones should be banned for minors under 11 years old, and that children under 13 years old should not be allowed to use mobile phones with an internet connection. However, no corresponding draft law has been submitted to the National Assembly, nor is it known if it will be submitted soon.
Officially, minors between the ages of 13 and 16 are only allowed to use social media in Germany if their parents consent. At present, there are no plans for new rules and further bans on the use of social media by minors.
But child protection advocates say the controls are inadequate and are calling for better enforcement of existing rules.
In 2018, Belgium enacted a law requiring children to be at least 13 years old to create a social media account without parental permission.
The Netherlands has no minimum age laws for the use of social media by minors. However, the government has banned mobile devices in school classrooms from January 2024 in order to reduce distractions. Exceptions are the cases of digital courses, medical needs, or disabilities.
In Italy, children under 14 need parental consent to create social media accounts. On the other hand, consent is not required for ages above this limit.
Australia has already started banning children from accessing social media. Essentially, it is one of the first countries to proceed with this institutionalization. Her example “opened” the way for other countries as well.
Parliament proceeded to pass the bill in early December. According to this, the big companies that manage the social networking platforms are obliged to change the age limit, which allows the registration of a new user, from 13 years to 16 years.
In case the companies do not proceed with the changes imposed by Australia, they will be asked to pay a fine, which can reach up to 49.5 million dollars, as reported by .
While several states in America have passed laws requiring age verification, these have stuck in court, as explained by .
Utah became the first state to pass laws regulating children’s use of social media in 2023. In September, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against a law that would have required social media companies to verify users’ ages , apply privacy settings and restrict certain functions.
Why Greece was led to take immediate measures
Lately, Greek society is often confronted with incidents of violence between minors. In many of these cases, the perpetrators seem to send an invitation through social media, in order to “have viewers”, or to attack their potential victims through various platforms – cyberbullying -.
At the same time, children mainly of adolescent and pre-adolescent age are faced with various “challenges”, which become trends on social media. A typical example is the ‘Superman challenge’, which started on TikTok and resulted in serious head injuries to children. But also “Sex Roulette”, which had a great impact in Italy and basically teenage girls had sex with unknown men without precautions, and whoever got pregnant lost.
The above are challenges and leave minors exposed to a multitude of risks. For this reason, the Greek government has chosen to take short measures to protect children and protect them from what they can encounter on the internet. “. The problem is addiction. Children have restricted their feelings, their movement and their socialization“, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, had underlined.
«We should define an age of digital adulthood. We estimate that will be 15 years, but beyond that there will obviously be policies for both younger children and older children“, said the prime minister. Dimitris Papastergiou explained from his side that “our children are growing up in a simulated world. So as a government we should stand by the parents. We are talking about Social. The problem is internet addiction».
According to the announcements, the new bill will be implemented in three phases.
Greece’s measures for minors and social media
Initially, the parco.gov.gr website will be immediately activated, where parents will find instructions to use the parental controls that are pre-installed on most mobile devices.
Afterwards, the kids wallet will be activated, which will contribute to the automatic certification of the user’s age. It will also provide built-in applications and rules within the next quarter. In fact, the Minister of Digital Governance has noted that “the big issue is how you check the age of the children. Age verification is the secret. And we come there very specifically to propose measures for Greece but also for Europe”.
Finally, legislative initiatives will be implemented in Greece and Europe for content in collaboration with technology and network companies.
However, as Dimitris Papastergiou has pointed out, information is necessary. “ that exist on the internet. This framework can be created. No framework and no legislation will work unless parents, teachers, schools and children themselves work together“, he had said in an interview.
