STORY: A Greek criminologist said the government should target companies not teenagers as the country prepares to block social media for under 15s.

Athens criminologist Kelly Ioannou said on Wednesday (February 4) the ban would merely push the problem down the road and not solve anything.

Greece said on Tuesday (February 3) it was "very close" to announcing a social media ban for children below the age of 15, following other countries such as Spain.

They would be joining countries such as Britain and France that are also considering taking a tougher stance on social media, after Australia in December became the first nation to prohibit access to such platforms for children younger than 16.

Ioannou, a digital criminologist and trauma coach believes a ban could make it worse as youths will find alternative ways of accessing it.

"They can be more creative they can find other ways to be online and even on more dangerous platforms,” she said.

A January poll conducted by Alco pollsters for Greece’s Alpha TV shows 80% of Greeks would support such a ban.

Instances of negative behaviours by youth in Greece online have increased in recent years, Ioannou said, including bullying, hate speech, revenge porn, harassment, humiliation, and financial blackmail.

The criminologist believes the best way to address these issues is to "understand why we raise children with these behaviours," that get teenagers hooked on satisfying their emotions too fast.

"Our generation are, as I call them, "fast feeling" generations.”

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: CRIMINOLOGIST DISCUSSING UNDER 15 BAN PLANNED BY GREECE/PEOPLE LOOKING AT PHONES ON STREET/STREET SCENES/

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: ATHENS, GREECE (FEBRUARY 4, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THEIR PHONES ON STREET

2. MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CYBERX & TRAUMAHELP, AND DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST KELLY IOANNOU IN HER OFFICE

3. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“It seems like a very good option but what we actually see is that its like we shift the problem and not actually solving it through this way.”

4. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON STREET LOOKING AT PHONES

5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“The actual problem is inside the society so the question is what the medium does to people or what people do to the medium, and especially nowadays through social media. So yes, we can remove accounts, we can ban people under 15 years old to be online but this does not actually solve the problem because people, and especially in these young ages, they can be more creative they can find other ways to be online and even on more dangerous platforms.”

6. VARIOUS OF IOANNOU AT HER DESK/ LAPTOP SCREEN

7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“I think that initially people will see this ban as something very good, but this is obvious because when we have a problem instead of actually dealing with it we want to hide it or we want not to be responsible in order to solve it. So when parents see that their teenagers will be banned from the social media it is like we are taking the responsibility by them.”

8. YOUTHS LOOKING AT PHONES

9. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“There are serious concerns about how youth use this technology nowadays especially in Greece we have seen in the recent years especially after covid we have seen that more and more problems are caused in online behaviours.”

10. YOUTHS LOOKING AT PHONES

11. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“If we want to be more strict we should be more strict with all these technological companies that they are creating these applications.”

12. YOUTHS LOOKING AT PHONES

13. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIGITAL CRIMINOLOGIST, KELLY IOANNOU, 33, SAYING:

“If we want to deal with this issue we should go a little deeper and understand why we raise children with these behaviours, with the need to feel their emotions, or to feed their emotions because as I always say its like the fast food, we want to eat something we want it very quickly and here is the big problem with fast food so our generation are as I call them fast feeling generations.”

14. YOUTHS LOOKING AT PHONES