Without a tie, with a smile on his face, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a ban on access to social networks for children under 15 from 2027.
In a video posted on the prime minister's official social media profile, the 58-year-old head of government said that although such a measure may seem unfair to young people, it is necessary for health reasons.
"I'm sure many of you young people will be angry with me."
"If I were your age, I might feel the same way," Mitsotakis was quoted as saying. Greek media.
However, exposure to social media has consequences.
"The addictive design of some apps, the business model that is based on your attention - on how much time you spend in front of a mobile phone screen - and that takes away some of your innocence and freedom, has to stop at some point," he said.
His government has already passed a ban on mobile phones in schools.
I am sure that Greece will not be the last country to pass such a law and we will demand that the European Union move in the same direction, the Prime Minister added.
Earlier this year, the Portuguese parliament passed a law that prohibits children under 13 from having social media profiles, while children aged 13 to 16 require parental consent.
Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Austria and Spain have announced that they are working on similar bans.
A similar measure was also discussed in the Croatian Parliament at the beginning of this year at the proposal of the opposition, but it has not yet been adopted.
There have been no similar announcements in Serbia, but a law restricting the use of mobile phones in schools is being prepared, and the Ombudsman is working on it.
According to previous research, children in Serbia are among the top Europeans in terms of using social networks.
Around 45 percent of nine- to 11-year-olds say they use social media every day, while the percentage in Germany is 11, a previous study showed. The Children of Europe on the Internet survey was conducted in 19 European countries.
Among children aged 12 to 14, 86 percent used social media daily, the highest percentage among the countries surveyed.
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Proposals in Serbia and 'repentance'
The use of mobile phones is already banned in some schools in Serbia.
With the proposed law that would regulate the use of phones, tablets, and smartwatches, which is being worked on by the Ombudsman, students would not be able to use these devices outside of the teaching process in any school.
Consultations are underway on the proposed document, which, according to local media, requires students to hand over digital devices as soon as they enter the school building.
They would be returned to them upon leaving school, or in exceptional situations while they are in an educational institution.
Fines are foreseen for schools and parents in case of non-compliance with the rules, as well as penalties for students.
The bill also contains the possibility of 'repentance'.
If a student who refused to hand over the phone, and who was expelled from school for that reason, repents, he will only be recorded as unexcused absences for classes he did not attend.
Also, the director will not initiate disciplinary proceedings against him, several media outlets reported.
How does prohibition work in Australia?
The first country to introduce a ban on social media was Australia, where those under the age of 16 should not be able to access these platforms.
Three months after the law came into effect, the companies behind social media are not doing enough to prevent children from visiting their platforms, is one of the conclusions of the analysis by the state regulatory body.
While the ban in Australia was introduced with great fanfare, many acknowledge that many under-16s still use the ten platforms covered by the law: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit and the streaming platforms Kik and Twitch.
When the BBC visited a school in Sydney in February, most students who had used social media before the ban still had access.
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