The speech of Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the Protection of Minors from Internet Addiction

Her National Strategy for the Protection of Minors from Internet Addictionpresented at noon on Monday at the Athens Conservatory, where among others the prime minister was stationed Kyriakos Mitsotakiswho announced the applications parco.gov.gr and Kids Wallet.

The first tool is the parco.gov.grwhich has already aired right after the event. This is a page with basic instructions for parental control. This tool determines how long a child can browse the internet, the apps they can see, the days and times, and everything else that needs to be checked.

At the same time, in the spring, towards the end of March and the beginning of April, the Kids Walleta new application that allows two main things: It will make parental control easier and secondly it will be the official national tool for checking and confirming the user’s age (age verification).

“In Kids Wallet we will have the identity of the child and we will be able to control with switches, simply, how much time we want and how many applications we want. We will be able to remotely control how much time the child sees, see reports, be notified of violations of the rules that we should set with our children” as clarified during the event.

The most important feature it will provide is the function of age confirmation. The parent will be able to define that a specific cell phone is used by their child.

Mitsotakis: “I hope that Kids Wallet will also be implemented in Europe”

For his part, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Kids Wallet hopes to be implemented in Europe, noting that it is possible to control the time we spend on mobile phones and what we see. “Then the responsibility passes to the child. We must also say no to our children,” he noted. “The very big challenge of the next day is how we push platforms to design apps with children and teens in mind. Some are already doing it,” he continued, citing Instagram as an example.

“Certainly there is a role for Greece at the European level. To propose technological solutions and to look at the regulatory issues, which also concern rights”, he added. “I think Europe will play a bigger regulatory role in pushing the big American platforms to allow wider interventions,” he added. “Europe, without going into excessive regulation, should define a framework and rights primarily for the rights of children and adolescents,” he stressed.

“All this starts with the correct information of parents, professors and teachers, health experts, to explain to children that there is no substitute for playing sports and having real contacts. The digital world can be useful but it cannot be a substitute for real experiences”, he underlined.

“For me it is a great opportunity to play a wider role, beyond the borders of our country. These issues concern everyone,” he noted.

Regarding the universal ban on the use of the platforms, the prime minister made it clear that this is not something effective, which is why the strategy that the government is working on is much more adapted to the very reality of the use of social media by children and teenagers , which starts from the admission that “we need to discuss the problem”.

“Parents must set the necessary limits for their children, just as they set limits throughout their upbringing. It is a process that all of us who have children know very well”, he emphasized, while he did not fail to put the providers in front of their responsibilities:

“Let me not mince my words. Companies’ algorithms are designed to maximize screen time, and that’s not just for kids, it’s for all of us. Think about how many of you looked at your phone during this presentation. You don’t really understand what you’re doing at the time, but you enter a zone of dependence that we all understand, because it’s happened to all of us more or less.”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the protection of the child’s psyche is a self-evident obligation of a society and that the child and adolescent brain is still being formed, which is why intervention is required especially for these ages”, he added. The prime minister discussed the issue with a 16-year-old student of the second high school.

“I think that unfortunately in my generation there is a problem. Basically we fail to recognize that internet addiction is a form of addiction. The mobile phone has become our second nature. I see that I can’t read more than 1.5 hours without checking if someone has sent me on social media. It is true that we spend a lot of time and what characterizes this habit is a feeling of guilt that these hours could be used for something else,” said the student.

Zaharakis: “We put Counseling in the public debate”

OR Sophia ZacharakisMinister of Social Cohesion and Family, referred to the actions that will be taken. “It is true that the digital world is a mirror of our lives. but it also has many challenges. We will address these challenges with the National Strategy,” he said, stressing that Consulting will enter the public debate.

“Our ministry is the contact point for the important policy for the child” noted Mrs. Zaharakis, while also pointing out that contact with other ministries will be important in the effort to protect children, who, as he said, are the future.

“Parental care is the central idea of ​​this program” noted on the part of o Dimitris VartzopoulosDeputy Minister of Health adding that the state will provide parents with as much accessible information as possible and remote sessions for all who wish. At the same time, he announced special actions absolutely free for the citizen.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Zetta Makrireferred to the measure to ban the use of cell phones in schools, saying that limits on use are needed. “Family involvement is absolutely essential,” he noted. “The imprint of the national strategy will be very strong” he said adding that it is very important that there is a Greek solution to a global problem which should now be implemented.

Papastergiou: “The elephant in the room is how you determine the user’s age”

For his part, the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergioudescribed how other states are tackling the issue of social media addiction among minors, starting with France, which introduced pre-installation of parental control software on devices and set the digital age of majority at 15. “Ireland sets voluntary rules for friendly platform design, Germany institutes age-appropriate content assessment rules,” the minister said, citing the example of Australia, which has already imposed a blanket ban on social media for ages below of 16 years, as well as in Albania which intends to ban TikTok for 1 year.

“The elephant in the room is how you determine the user’s age,” noted Mr. Papastergiou stressing that the solution is dialogue and how we will talk to our children. The Minister of Digital Governance referred to the digital neglect observed today in many families. At the same time, he mentioned the parental control tools through the parco.gov.gr application, which will go live immediately after the presentation and will be a tool that will advise parents.

“Parents should install the app on mobiles. We recommend that new applications be pre-installed. Nothing will happen if we as parents do not control it” adding that Greece is coming forward at the European level.

As he said, soon this idea will turn into action and a generation will not have to be lost.

With the message “life is not passively twiddling your thumb at a screen, life is out there and it’s great” he wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this project. In closing, he mentioned a child’s phrase that “when you open a cell phone, a company closes.”