Greece to ban under-15s from social media from next year - BERITAJA

Greece will prohibition under-15s from societal media from adjacent year.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed the prohibition connected Wednesday morning, announcing it would statesman connected 1 January 2027.

There is wide support for a prohibition among adults successful Greece, pinch 80% supporting the restrictions, according to polling patient ALCO.

According to the Greek Safer Internet ‌Centre ⁠in Athens, 75% of children utilizing societal media successful Greece are of primary‑school age.

"Ban them, unopen them down. We've ​reached our limits... We parents request help," 1 mother told the Reuters news agency earlier the prohibition was confirmed.

Georgia Efstathiou, 43, described having tried everything to extremity her 14-year-old boy from spending truthful overmuch clip connected societal media arsenic she called connected the authorities to intervene.

Another parent, Dimitris Daniil, 44, said he thought a prohibition should beryllium a past resort.

"I'd for illustration a different approach, limiting mobile telephone usage wrong the family," he said.

"But wherever that's not possible, possibly a prohibition would activity arsenic the utmost ⁠remedy."

His 14-year-old ​daughter Katerina said about teenagers her property person ne'er known a world without ​social media.

"It is the measurement we learned since we were born," she said.

"I could power it - but past ​again I usually get carried away."

Phones are already banned successful Greek schools, dissimilar the UK, and the authorities has group up parental power platforms to ​limit teenagers' surface time.

In December, Australia banned under-16s from the technology, becoming the first state to do so.

Since then, location person been increasing calls about the world for governments to tackle online harms faced by young people.

Read much connected societal media:
The countries that person societal media bans, aliases are readying to instrumentality one
The societal media-fuelled craze starring to crowds of teens swarming cities
A societal media prohibition for children isn't cut-and-dried case

A number of countries are exploring societal media bans, including Slovenia, Spain and Austria, pinch the UK authorities consulting the nationalist connected societal media restrictions.

As good arsenic an all-out prohibition for under-16s, the consultation besides explores restrictions for illustration integer curfews and surface clip limits.

The results of that consultation are expected successful the summer.

At the aforesaid time, a bid of landmark ineligible tests are nether measurement successful the US, pinch the first 2 awesome tests precocious uncovering societal media companies liable for harming users done addictive features and design.