Greece becomes latest country to announce plans to ban social media for under-15s

Greece has announced plans to ban access to social media for under-15s.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the decision was aimed at tackling rising anxiety and sleep problems amongst young people, as well as what he described as the "addictive design" of social media.

From the start of next year, platforms will need to restrict users or face fines, according to digital governance minister Dimitris Papastergiou.

The new restrictions will come into force in the country from January 2027.

Australia - In 2025 Australia became the first country in the world to bring in a social media ban for under-16s.

In 2024 the country's government passed a law aimed at stopping children there from using some social media.

The ban affects lots of different platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube - although it doesn't apply to YouTube Kids.

UK - The UK government says it is also looking into proposals for a ban for under-16s too.

In January the House of Lords voted in favour of banning under-16s from social media, adding pressure on the UK government to match a similar ban to the one in Australia.

However, the measure will now return to the House of Commons, where MPs will vote whether to change the law, or to overturn the decision.

The UK government has previously said that it would vote against the proposal, while it carries out its own consultation on a potential ban and waits for the results, which are due this summer.

Spain - has also announced plans to ban social media for under-16s.

The country's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said that platforms should bring in strong age checks and that children should be protected from harmful online content.

Under the plans, social media platforms would be required to have strong age checks in place.

It would also make social media company bosses responsible for "illegal or harmful content" on their platforms.

Austria - has announced plans to ban social media for children aged under 14.

The state secretary for digitalisation, Alexander Pröll, from the conservative ÖVP, said that a draft bill laying out the terms of the ban would be shared by the end of June 2026.

France - France's lower house approved a ban for under-15s in January.

On 31 March, the bill was then passed by the Senate (the upper house), making France the first European country to follow Australia.

The process, however, is not yet complete.

The French bill is due to go back to the Assembly for a final vote but a disagreement between the upper and lower houses remains.

Denmark and Ireland have also said that they are thinking about following the Australian example.

Indonesia - On 28 March the government began to roll out new rules that ban children younger than 16 from accessing "high risk" digital platforms such as TikTok, Roblox, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X.

Indonesia became the first country in southeast Asia to bring in a ban like this, which will affect around 70 million children.

Malaysia - Leaders in Malaysia have also said that they plan to ban under-16s from having open social media accounts, with new rules planned for 2026.

India - On 6 March the Indian state of Karnataka, became the first state in the country to pass a law banning social media for children under 16.

However, it is currently not known when the ban will take effect.