PM Mitsotakis addresses ‘Protecting Children in the Digital Age’ event in New York

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated successful an lawsuit organised by Australia connected “ Protecting Children successful the Digital Age”, successful the discourse of the High-Level Week of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly successful New York. The Prime Minister was accompanied by his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotaki.

In his intervention, Mitsotakis referred to the request for planetary enactment to support children from the antagonistic effects of the uncontrolled usage of societal media. As helium said,

“ We are moving the biggest unchecked experimentation with our children’s brains ever. We don’t cognize what the consequences volition be, but we are beauteous definite that this is not going to crook retired well.”

Mitsotakis noted that Greece has taken initiatives successful this area, starting with the prohibition connected the usage of mobile phones successful schools. At the aforesaid time, helium presented the caller integer instrumentality parco.gov.gr, which offers an age-verification mechanics and a parental-control application, giving parents indispensable enactment to support their children online.
He pointed retired that the situation is not constricted to societal media but besides extends to children’s narration with artificial quality tools.
Concluding, Mitsotakis stressed, “ We person a work not conscionable to prosecute with the tech companies but to marque it precise wide to them who sets the rules. Tech companies are making capable money. They conscionable don’t request to besides marque wealth disconnected the vulnerabilities of our children.”

Mitsotakis’ afloat code is arsenic follows:

“ Emma, convey you truthful overmuch for sharing your communicative with us. It indispensable instrumentality a batch of courageousness to crook your idiosyncratic suffering into this precise almighty telephone for action. Prime Minister, convey you for your enactment connected this topic. I deliberation we volition each beryllium watching precise cautiously however you instrumentality this important decision, which volition person planetary ramifications.

Last summer, my woman asked maine to work a publication by Jonathan Haidt who’s with america today. I’m definite you cognize astir it. It’s titled ‘The Anxious Generation’. It was an eye-opening acquisition for me, due to the fact that arsenic I was speechmaking astir the interaction that societal media has connected our kids and our teenagers, I felt arsenic if I was being shared the stories that the parents themselves are telling america astatine each opportunity. We are moving the biggest unchecked experimentation with our children’s brains ever. We don’t cognize what the consequences volition be, but we are beauteous definite that this is not going to crook retired well.

If we cognize that the grounds is conclusive, we clearly, arsenic leaders, request to bash thing astir it. First of all, we request to assistance the parents, due to the fact that this should not conscionable beryllium a work for parents, due to the fact that I cognize however hard it tin beryllium for a azygous genitor to inquire his oregon her kid to get disconnected societal media erstwhile everybody other is doing the aforesaid thing.

So, successful Greece, we took this inaugural precise seriously. First of all, we banned phones successful each our schools, and it has been transformative for the acquisition experience. But we went a measurement further successful trying to lick the main problem, which the tech companies, oregon main excuse, which the tech companies ever usage erstwhile we speech astir property limits regarding societal media, which is property verification. They archer us, “ How bash we cognize the existent property of the users?”

Well, archetypal of all, they cognize beauteous good what the property of the users is due to the fact that they tin really spot done the content. They cognize truthful overmuch astir us. They really person a beauteous bully knowing what the property is. But what we did is we created a tract wrong our gov.gr, a integer abstraction called ‘parco.gov.gr’, which does fundamentally 2 things. First of all, it interlinks into our integer registry. Now we really person a integer property verification instrumentality for the parents, truthful that they tin log connected erstwhile they get their kid’s archetypal phone. They besides person entree to an easy-to-use interface successful presumption of implementing parental power for societal media usage.
We see this to beryllium lone the archetypal step, because, again, it’s up to the parents to acceptable up these accounts. I cognize it’s not casual for a azygous genitor to really marque these decisions. We successful Greece are acceptable to determination 1 measurement further and to earnestly see a prohibition for societal media usage, a integer bulk property similar the 1 you person implemented. I’ve asked my squad to enactment precise intimately with your squad to spot however we tin really marque this work.

As you pointed out, Prime Minister, it’s not going to beryllium perfect, but we cannot usage the difficulties successful implementing these policies arsenic an excuse not to bash thing astir the problem. I’m precise blessed that the President of the Commission made a peculiar notation successful her State of the European Union speech, raising consciousness connected this issue.

What I tin archer you from my acquisition successful Greece is that erstwhile we started talking publically astir this problem, we were overwhelmed with the feedback that the parents gave us, asking us, begging america to bash thing astir this problem. As liable leaders, we bash person an obligation, not conscionable a responsibility, to code this challenge, and this is what we mean to do.

Of course, we’re lone talking astir societal media here, but we person not yet tackled the question of however our kids interact with AI chatbots. That is going to beryllium different taxable for discussion, which is going to travel upon america precise quickly. Do we truly privation our kids to person integer friends that whitethorn pb america towards behaviours which are not conscionable unacceptable, but could besides beryllium catastrophic? We person a work not conscionable to prosecute with the tech companies, but to marque it precise wide to them who sets the rules. Tech companies are making capable money. They conscionable don’t request to besides marque wealth disconnected the vulnerabilities of our children. Thank you precise much.”