Social media ban raises effectiveness, rights concerns

Greece is preparing to prohibition under-15s from κοινωνικά media. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

A landmark prohibition connected κοινωνικά media for minors under 15 announced Wednesday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has drawn disapproval from experts who question its applicable effectiveness, ineligible proportionality and interaction connected civilian liberties.

While the measurement enjoys 80% nationalist approval, critics constituent to caller information from Australia, where a akin prohibition implemented successful precocious 2025 saw astir 70% of minors bypass restrictions via VPNs. To code these enforcement gaps, Greece will debut a “Kids Wallet” for integer property verification.

However, Yannis Theocharis, a prof astatine the Technical University of Munich, warns that horizontal bans whitethorn inadvertently thrust children toward unregulated “dark” platforms similar 4chan, where extremism is common.

Further complicating the policy, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty cautions that universal bans are “neither proportionate nor necessary,” arguing that nett entree is simply a cardinal right.