Greece has joined the growing list of countries using the law to keep children off social media. Its parliament on Friday passed legislation barring children under 15 from using social networks.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the plan in April, choosing TikTok, one of the most popular platforms among young Greeks, to explain what he called a "difficult but necessary" measure. After a heated debate that began on Thursday and ran into Friday, his conservative New Democracy party used its majority to pass the bill, which no other party backed.
The opposition socialist Pasok party abstained after proposing an alternative that would have banned social media for under-13s and introduced parental controls for 13- and 14-year-olds. Left-wing and nationalist parties voted against.
The law, which takes effect on January 1, requires social networks to verify users' ages and imposes heavy penalties on companies that fail to comply. Australia last year became the first country to ban social media for children, barring under-16s, and according to sources more than 20 countries have since passed similar laws.
Critics of the platforms say addictive algorithms keep children glued to screens and that excessive scrolling can harm their mental health. Free-speech advocates have pushed back against such bans, and sceptics question how well they will work in practice.