France approves social media ban for under-15s

The French parliament has approved a law banning social media for those under 15 from January 2027, making France the first European country to block young people from accessing the platforms.

The law means everyone in France must verify their age to access social media, and it comes as the UK and EU develop their own limits in response to concerns about children’s mental health.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the move, which he promised to implement to mark the end of a decade in office.

While skeptics have questioned the enforceability of the law, the government has insisted that online tools to enforce age checks are effective and safe.

Both the French Senate and the National Assembly passed the ban on Tuesday, despite criticism from some on the left.

It will be implemented in two stages:

Once the ban comes into force, social media platforms will be required to use age verification tools approved by the French privacy regulator, according to Reuters news agency.

But concerns have been raised about privacy, the effectiveness of age verification tools, the risk of young people bypassing them, and how quickly the ban was designed and implemented, Agence France Presse reported.

The agency added that French Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff defended the speed of implementation of the law ahead of the vote, “as age verification tools are already available.”

France became the second country to implement the ban, after Australia.

It is widely accepted that despite Australia banning under-16s from social media in December, many people continue to use these platforms.

In March, the Australian eSafety Commission announced that seven in 10 children under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had “some access”.

Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University in Western Australia, told the BBC that the ban had “failed” in terms of its technical aims.

But he says he has successfully demonstrated that the ban “can be done”, but classifies it as “a bit of a trial”.

One of the lessons other countries can learn from this example is that “young people need to be part of this conversation” so that the ban ends “on them” and not “on them”.

Leaver said the ban in France might have a better chance of succeeding because of the requirement to verify everyone’s age, but it would also increase privacy risks.

Additional risks of the ban include pushing young people into less regulated online spaces, reducing their news consumption and political empowerment, he added.

Legislation restricting young people’s access to social media has been increasing across Europe in the last few months.

In June, former British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that under-16s in the UK would be banned from social media from January 2027. An optional midnight curfew was also announced for UK teenagers aged 16 and 17.

In May, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a “social media moratorium” for children in Europe and said new legislation could emerge within months.