France is the first EU country to ban social media for under-15s

France has become the first country in the European Union to ban social media for children under 15. The French Parliament has definitively adopted the bill introducing a ‘digital majority’, a reform championed by President Emmanuel Macron to combat what he described as the ‘Wild West’ of social media. Under the new legislation, from 1 September, children under 15 will not be permitted to open a social media account. For existing accounts, platforms will have until 1 January 2027 to close them. The bill provides for exceptions such as ‘online encyclopaedias’ and ‘educational digital projects’. The legislation also bans the use of mobile phones in secondary schools, as is already the case in primary and lower secondary schools.

Social media platforms have repeatedly expressed their opposition to blanket bans, emphasising that they have already adopted measures to protect younger users, including age restrictions. However, under the new law, they will have to integrate “the tool or tools” they deem appropriate to comply with age verification requirements, the bill’s rapporteur, Laure Miller, an MP for Renaissance (Macron’s party), told AFP. Several such tools have been developed, including France Identité and another tool from a subsidiary of La Poste, Docaposte, which already manages digital workspaces for minors. The European Commission also presented a continent-wide age verification app in April, which could help member states implement such restrictions. Macron hopes that other EU countries will follow the French model, which in turn is inspired by the Australian one. For the President of the Republic, “protecting our children is not just a matter of regulation: it is a matter of civilisation”.