France Seeks to Ban Social Media for Children Under 15, Bill Goes Before Parliament Today

France’s Parliament is expected to vote on and approve today a bill banning children under the age of 15 from using social media.

The initiative is backed by President Emmanuel Macron and is intended to protect minors’ mental health. It is expected to take effect in September, at the start of the new school year.

The French Senate previously approved the bill by 243 votes to 2. It is now expected to pass in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.

Macron has called for the reform to be completed before the end of his term and the 2027 presidential election. Digital Media Minister Anne Le Havre said users would be required to provide proof of age, while accounts belonging to people under 15 would be deactivated.

The French government’s plan calls for the restriction to apply to new accounts from September 1. For existing accounts, the measure will take effect on January 1, 2027, after the age-verification process has been completed.

Responsibility for enforcement will not fall on children or their parents, as the law does not set out penalties for them. Online platforms will be required to verify users’ ages. The European Commission recently unveiled an age-verification app for use across Europe, while private companies have also developed other technological alternatives.

The measure’s practical enforceability, particularly the age-confirmation procedure, has raised questions among some lawmakers. Socialist Arthur Delaporte criticized the lack of clarity surrounding the verification mechanisms and warned that his parliamentary group could challenge the law before the Constitutional Council.

France Unbowed also opposed the initiative, arguing that its provisions could undermine users’ online anonymity.

The bill also includes a ban on mobile phones in secondary schools, alongside restrictions on minors’ access to social media. However, schools’ internal regulations will be able to specify cases in which exemptions are permitted.

Laure Miller, the bill’s rapporteur and a representative of the presidential Renaissance party, said the measure was also supported by warnings from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses). The agency has drawn attention to the negative effects that social media use can have on adolescents’ mental health.

According to Miller, the restrictions will not cover certain categories of services, including online encyclopedias and platforms offering educational materials.

For platforms such as YouTube and WhatsApp, the provisions will apply only to features with social media characteristics, including comments, channel sharing and public interactions. The ban will not apply to watching videos or to private communications between users.