Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Friday in Athens with Meta’s Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, and other company officials for talks that centered on internet safety for children.

Mitsotakis stressed the urgent need to protect minors from online risks and digital addiction, an issue he has raised at the UN. He emphasized Greece’s push for a unified digital age of consent across the EU, requiring parental approval for minors to access digital platforms.

Meta, the owner and operator of several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger and WhatsApp, expressed strong support for the initiative, with Davis agreeing that safety controls should be enforced at the operating system or device level.

“We appreciate Greece’s leadership,” she said, highlighting Meta’s Teen Accounts, which default to stricter safety settings for users under 16 and require parental involvement to change them.

The discussion also focused on Kids Wallet, a Greek-developed app allowing parents to monitor and manage their children’s digital activity. Mitsotakis said the tool has gained traction at the EU level. “Parents and even children agree – this is a real problem,” he said. “We must act together with the big tech companies.”

The PM cited Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” as an influence, drawing parallels between past efforts to mandate seat belts and today’s push for online protections: “We now know the risks. We have the tools. What’s needed is the will – and shared responsibility.”

Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou and Minister of State Akis Skertsos also participated in the meeting.

Source: Ekathimerini.com