Paris (EFE).- The French Parliament has definitively passed a law banning access to social media for children under 15. This makes France the first country in Europe to implement such a general restriction, with the government aiming for enforcement by the start of the next school year.
«France is leading the way in Europe to protect our children and adolescents. We are moving forward,» President Emmanuel Macron declared in a video posted to his social media shortly after the final approval. He celebrated the decision as a key campaign pledge fulfilled in the final phase of his second and last term.
«I committed to this, and it is now approved: social media will be prohibited for those under 15 starting from the beginning of the school year,» he wrote while sharing the video on X.
The head of state thanked the parliamentarians for their support and noted that the Constitutional Council must now review the law before it takes effect. «After that, it will be time to act to make this measure effective and protect our children online,» he added.
The bill received support in the Senate, where it passed with 243 votes in favor and two against, and was later ratified by the National Assembly with 279 in favor and 81 against, marking the culmination of several months of parliamentary processing.
The regulation establishes that those under 15 will not be able to access social media services offered by digital platforms.
Exemptions include certain portals such as online encyclopedias like Wikipedia, as well as open-source software development and distribution platforms or open-source educational projects.
The law does not define a specific age-verification system, leaving it to platforms like Facebook or TikTok to implement mechanisms to verify the age of their users.
The text also expands the ban on mobile phone use in middle schools, extending a restriction that previously applied to primary and lower-secondary schools, although schools will be allowed to consider exceptions in their internal regulations.
The government expects the ban to take effect on Sep. 1 for new accounts created on the affected platforms. For existing accounts, the measure will begin to apply after a four-month transition period, starting Jan. 1, 2027.
Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs Anne Le Hénanff told the Senate that France «is a pioneer in Europe» by establishing a digital majority age of 15. She added that a coalition of fifteen European countries, including Spain, is studying incorporating similar regulations into their national laws.
Australia was the first country in the world to approve a similar restriction, though in their case, it applies to those under 16. EFE
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