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“We must face head-on the addiction of minors to the internet, as well as strengthen their protection. To see the internet as part of the real world. Just as we wouldn’t let a 12-year-old child walk alone here in Brussels without knowing the city, the streets, we must feel the same responsibility when we allow them to browse the internet. When we don’t know what they are watching, how many hours they spend or who they are communicating with online,” stressed the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, during the presentation of the National Strategy for the Protection of Minors from Internet Addiction today, at the Permanent Representation of Greece in the European Union, in Brussels.
According to relevant information from the ministry, Mr. Papastergiou emphasized that “the European Union must move forward in a spirit of cooperation and we must all overcome any obstacles together. It’s encouraging that a common understanding is being formed about such an important issue that has arisen – not only in Greece or Europe, but globally: internet addiction.” Continuing, he stressed that: “it is necessary to take action. Every day that passes, more and more children fall deeper and deeper into digital addiction. This is a problem we can’t afford to ignore. We don’t have time to waste. In Greece we have developed a National Strategy and technological tools that can help us. It is a priority for the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who encourages and supports all related initiatives.”
The Minister of Digital Governance referred to Gov.gr Wallet, where already 5.2 million citizens store digital documents, such as identity cards and digital tickets with which they enter stadiums. “We decided to expand the digital wallet to identify our children online. Of course, above all we need to talk to our children and explain to them that real life isn’t online but out there. Obviously, it wouldn’t be reasonable to ban them from using their mobile phones. We need to find a balance in mobile phone usage. This is where parental control programs come in. Such tools exist, even for free, but we have realized that they are not always effective. That’s why we decided to follow up on the Gov.gr Wallet with the launch of the Kids Wallet, aiming to build a very user-friendly parental control system and also address what some call ‘the elephant in the room’, that is, age verification,” the minister mentioned.
“As more and more online platforms in Greece and worldwide are looking for reliable methods to verify the age of users, the Kids Wallet can be a very useful tool for verification. Apart from digital use, it can also be used for transactions in person.”
The Minister of Digital Governance particularly mentioned the need for collective action. “We understand that platforms can’t create separate apps for every country. That’s why we must act collectively and swiftly to make age verification available on platforms. We believe that platforms act in good faith and as soon as they manage to accurately verify a user’s age, they will provide content suitable for children. Of course, it isn’t enough to ask platforms to be responsible. We must also demonstrate responsibility. We can provide immediate age verification and everyone – governments and platforms – must commit together to protect children. Naturally, parents must also act responsibly,” he remarked.
Closing, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou stressed: “Combating digital addiction requires coordinated efforts from all EU member states and close collaboration with local communities, organizations, and industry leaders. Greece is ready to implement any initiative being prepared at the European level. We believe in a world where our children are safe and we are confident that we can succeed together. This is a collective effort and we need everyone’s participation and commitment to make it a reality.”
From his part, Vasilis Koutsoumpas, digital policy advisor and AI applications to the Prime Minister, referred to the need for targeted regulatory interventions at the European level, which will cover deficiencies of the existing framework. “Mandatory technical standards designed for platform-friendly and non-addictive architectural design, as well as establishing a pan-European digital adulthood age at 15 aimed at responsible use, are necessary. A unified European response is required, providing clear guidelines to platforms so these proposals are implementable.”
The event attracted significant interest in Brussels. The presentation at the building of Greece’s permanent representation gathered a majority of representatives from member states as well as the Polish presidency, executives from the European Commission, major tech companies like Meta’s government relations manager in Brussels and Google’s public policy and European institutions manager, as well as representatives from Digital Europe, Microsoft, and civil society organizations. (13/3/25)