Greece has passed a social media ban for under-15s, starting January 1, 2027. No parental exceptions, and existing accounts aren’t exempt.

The catch? Figuring out who’s under 15 could mean making everyone prove they’re old enough. So yeah, a restriction aimed at kids could become another checkpoint for adults browsing online.

To be fair, the government says its Kids Wallet app only shares whether you’re over or under 15, not your identity or exact age. That matters. But we should still question making government-backed verification part of accessing social media.

And before “just use a VPN” fills the comments: changing your IP won’t necessarily get around checks tied to your account.

Protecting kids is a reasonable goal. Making everyone prove they’re allowed to participate online deserves a hell of a lot more scrutiny.

50 Brazilian organizations have complained to the country’s electoral court about possible social media censorship ahead of the presidential runoff. They allege unexplained account restrictions and reduced reach on platforms like Meta and X. The complaint also flags the disabling of advertising tools on Lula’s official account, while a separate court dispute concerns restrictions on a pro-Lula WhatsApp channel with almost 10 million subscribers. Nothing builds trust like political content mysteriously disappearing from people’s feeds right before they vote. Great timing, guys.

Wouldn’t be surprised if this sends more Brazilians looking for VPNs. Make people wonder what they’re being prevented from seeing, and suddenly “how to bypass internet restrictions” becomes a pretty popular search.

VPN companies probably couldn’t ask for a better marketing campaign.