France next to ban under-15s from social media
According to local media reports, France plans to ban social media sites for children under 15 and ban mobile phones in high schools from September 2026; These moves underscore growing public concern about the impact of online harms on minors.
President Emmanuel Macron has frequently cited social media as one of the incriminating factors in violence among young people and has signaled that he wants France to follow Australia, whose world-first ban on people under 16 on social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube came into force in December.
Le Monde newspaper said Macron could announce the measures in his national speech on New Year’s Eve. His government will present draft legislation on legal controls in early January, Le Monde and France Info reported.
The Elysee and the prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.
Mobile phones have been banned in primary and secondary schools in France since 2018, and new changes reportedly envisage extending this ban to high schools. Students between the ages of 11 and 15 attend secondary schools in the French education system.
France also passed a law in 2023 requiring social platforms to obtain parental consent for those under 15 to create accounts, but technical difficulties prevented its implementation.
In June, Macron said he would push for regulation at the European Union level that would ban anyone under 15 from accessing social media, after a fatal stabbing at a school in eastern France shocked the country.
The European Parliament in November called on the EU to set minimum ages for children to access social media to combat the rise of mental health problems among teenagers caused by overexposure; However, age limits were imposed by member countries.
Many other countries have also taken steps to regulate children’s access to social media.
Macron enters the new year with his domestic legacy in tatters after his gamble on parliamentary elections in 2024 led to the suspension of parliament, triggering France’s worst political crisis that has seen a series of weak governments in decades.
But further restrictions on minors’ access to social media may prove popular, according to opinion polls. A 2024 poll by Harris Interactive showed that 73 percent of respondents supported banning social media access for those under 15.
