Greece Plans to Ban Anonymity on Social Media

The Greek Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, has announced that the Greek authorities intend to push for a ban on online anonymity.

The Greek government is aiming to combat the spread of fake news and hate speech propagated by anonymous users. Law enforcement agencies have attempted to identify such users in the past but have consistently faced technical and legal hurdles.

"In Ancient Greece, everyone could express their opinion openly and directly—everyone raised their hand and shared their point of view. This should inspire us to shape a new digital democracy," the Minister stated during the Delphi Economic Forum.

The proposal has been under discussion for several months and is currently being reviewed at the highest level of government—specifically within the office of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Officials argue that political debates on social media frequently devolve into the spread of misinformation, coordinated harassment, threats, and hate speech by anonymous accounts. Furthermore, it is alleged that some of these accounts are used to artificially promote the agendas of specific political figures.

According to Euractiv, citing Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis, the primary goal of the initiative is not to abolish the use of pseudonyms (nicknames), but to ensure that every social media profile corresponds to a verifiable real-world person.

With national elections scheduled for early 2027, this initiative could potentially be implemented in the very near future.