add article: Greece bans social media for under-15s from 2027 (EN/DE/FR)

Includes Cyprus section (EU age verification pilot, proposed age limit increase).
Updates countries.json with Greece, Indonesia, Cyprus entries.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

content/en/greece-social-media-ban-under-15.md

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+---
+title: "Greece to Ban Social Media for Under-15s from 2027"
+date: 2026-04-08
+description: "Greece announces a ban on social media for children under 15, joining a growing global movement to protect young people online. The ban takes effect January 2027."
+tags: ["child protection", "legislation", "Greece", "social media ban", "age verification", "Europe", "Cyprus"]
+categories: ["legislation"]
+author: "Agiliton"
+slug: "greece-social-media-ban-under-15"
+translationKey: "greece-social-media-ban"
+---
+
+Greece has announced it will ban children under 15 from using social media — and the announcement came in an unusual way. On April 8, 2026, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted a video on TikTok to announce a ban on... TikTok (and other platforms) for young users.
+
+"We decided to proceed with something difficult but necessary — banning access to social media for children under 15," the Prime Minister said in his video message.
+
+## What Exactly Is Being Banned?
+
+Starting **January 1, 2027**, children under 15 in Greece will no longer be allowed to use major social media platforms. Here is what is affected:
+
+**Banned platforms:**
+- Facebook
+- Instagram
+- TikTok
+- Snapchat
+- X (formerly Twitter)
+- Other platforms that rely on "endless scrolling" and user-generated content
+
+**Still allowed:**
+- WhatsApp, Messenger, Viber (messaging apps)
+- YouTube (video platform)
+- Video calling apps
+
+The distinction is clear: apps designed for communication stay, while platforms built around addictive feeds and algorithms get restricted.
+
+## Why Is Greece Doing This?
+
+The Greek government cited three main reasons:
+
+1. **Mental health concerns** — Research from Imperial College London (2026) found that children using social media more than 3 hours daily are significantly more likely to develop depression and anxiety.
+
+2. **Addictive design** — Social media algorithms are specifically engineered to keep users scrolling. Prime Minister Mitsotakis called out "the addictive design of some apps" and their "profit-driven" algorithms.
+
+3. **Sleep problems** — Multiple studies link heavy social media use among young people to poor sleep quality, which affects school performance, mood, and physical health.
+
+## Greece Joins a Growing Global Wave
+
+Greece is not alone. Countries around the world are taking similar steps:
+
+| Country | Age Limit | Status | Key Detail |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| **Australia** | Under 16 | Enforced (Dec 2025) | First country globally; fines up to AUD 49.5M |
+| **Indonesia** | Under 16 | Enforced (Mar 2026) | Companies summoned for non-compliance |
+| **France** | Under 15 | Passed (Apr 2026) | Arcom regulator blacklist approach |
+| **Greece** | Under 15 | Announced (Apr 2026) | Takes effect Jan 2027 |
+| **Norway** | Under 15 | Proposed | Bill in progress |
+
+## Does It Actually Work? The Australian Experience
+
+Australia became the first country to enforce a social media ban for under-16s in December 2025. Four months later, the results are mixed: studies suggest that around **70% of children** still found ways to access banned platforms.
+
+This raises an important question: can bans really work when determined teenagers know how to get around restrictions? Critics argue that bans push young people to less-safe corners of the internet rather than keeping them off it entirely.
+
+Two Australian teenagers — Noah Jones and Macy Neyland — are even challenging the ban in court, arguing it disregards children's rights.
+
+## The Age Verification Problem
+
+To enforce a ban, platforms need to know how old their users are. But verifying age online is surprisingly difficult:
+
+- **Face scans** — AI can estimate age from photos, but raises serious privacy concerns. Who stores this biometric data?
+- **ID checks** — Effective, but many young people do not have government-issued ID
+- **Privacy paradox** — Banning social media to protect children's privacy requires collecting even more personal data to verify ages
+
+Greece, along with France, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus, is part of an **EU age verification pilot program** testing solutions that link to national population registries.
+
+## What About Cyprus?
+
+As an EU member state and close neighbor of Greece, Cyprus is watching closely:
+
+- **Current age limit**: 14 (under GDPR framework)
+- **Active proposal**: A bill to raise the minimum age from 14 to 16 is being debated in the House Legal Affairs Committee
+- **EU presidency priority**: President Nikos Christodoulides has declared child digital safety a priority for Cyprus's 2026 EU presidency
+- **Joint letter**: Cyprus co-signed a letter with France, Greece, Spain, Denmark, and Slovenia calling for an EU-wide "digital age of majority"
+- **Age verification pilot**: Cyprus is one of six EU countries testing age verification technology
+
+Cyprus has also introduced a separate bill to make **digital citizenship education mandatory** in all schools — teaching young people to use the internet safely rather than simply banning them from parts of it.
+
+## Both Sides of the Debate
+
+**In favor of bans:**
+- Protects children from addictive algorithms designed to maximize engagement
+- Reduces exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, and unrealistic comparisons
+- Gives children time to develop emotional resilience before entering social media
+
+**Against bans:**
+- Difficult to enforce (Australia's 70% circumvention rate)
+- Removes platforms young people use for support communities, creativity, and civic engagement
+- Age verification creates new privacy risks
+- May push teens to unregulated or underground platforms
+
+Amnesty International has called social media bans an "ineffective quick-fix," while UNICEF warns that age-based restrictions alone will not keep children safe.
+
+## What This Means for Families
+
+- **In Greece**: From January 2027, platforms will be legally required to prevent under-15s from accessing social media. Parents will not need to rely solely on parental controls.
+- **Across Europe**: Greece's decision adds momentum to the EU-wide push. More countries are likely to follow.
+- **Everywhere**: Regardless of local laws, families can discuss healthy screen time habits and the difference between messaging friends and endlessly scrolling feeds.
+
+## What Happens Next
+
+Greece will draft the detailed legislation in the coming months, with the ban scheduled to take effect on **January 1, 2027**. The key open questions are how age verification will work in practice and what penalties platforms will face for non-compliance.
+
+---
+
+*For a broader look at child protection laws worldwide, see our [global overview](/en/child-protection-laws-2026-global-overview/). For background on how social media platforms are designed to be addictive, read our article on [tech companies and the addiction business model](/en/tech-companies-addiction-business-model/).*