Athens:
In an ambitious attempt to protect children from internet addiction, Greece is planning to launch a national strategy to rein in excessive social media usage by minors. In the first step towards the goal, Greece on Monday launched a dedicated website, providing user-friendly guides and instructions on parental control features.
Speaking at an event to mark the launch of the strategy, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said protecting children’s well-being was a societal imperative.
However, he voiced doubts regarding the effectiveness of a complete ban on social media. Instead, he said the challenge for the future was how to design apps with children and teenagers in mind.
Per the Greek government, the new aims to address growing concerns about children’s excessive use of social media and the internet. Its main pillars are strengthening parental controls, age verification and engagement with social media platforms.
Three-Phase Implementation Plan
The government has planned to implement the strategy in three phases, the first part of which was launched on Monday. Next year, the Greek government is planning to roll out a digital wallet application that will serve as a parental control and age verification system.
Parental Control Platform: It is an advanced portal that was launched on Monday to give parents tools to monitor and regulate their children’s online activity.
Kids Wallet System: In the next phase, the government is planning to bring out a “kids wallet” system within the next three months. The innovative tool would include built-in applications and rules for automatic age authentication to ensure appropriate online access, according to a report by the Greek City Times.
International Cooperation: As the next step, Greece would reportedly introduce legislative measures in collaboration with European partners and major tech companies to regulate online content and enhance protections for minors.
Age of Digital Adulthood
On December 18, during a chaired high-level inter-ministerial meeting on the issue, Prime Minister Mitsotakis reportedly stressed the need to define an age for “digital adulthood,” which will be tentatively set at 15 years.
Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, also highlighted the urgent need to address internet addiction among youth and said, “Our children are growing up in a simulated world.
“As a government, we must stand by parents. The real issue here is internet addiction, and we must tackle it with decisive action,” he said according to the Greek City Times.
With this initiative, Greece joins the long list of countries including the US, France, The UK and Australia that are bringing in measures to ensure youth grow up with healthier relationships with technology.
