Others in the bloc, including Greece, Denmark and Spain are also considering legislation on the subject.
France passes a bill to ban social media for children under the age of 15, becoming the first EU country to do so.
The new law reflects the direction parents and lawmakers are increasingly moving toward when it comes to social media, as children’s safety becomes a political priority in the online world.
The ban is expected to come into force on 1 September, although a review of the French constitution may reverse its implementation.
“I was committed to it, and now it has been voted on: social media will be closed to those under 15 who start going back to school,” French president Emmanuel Macron posted on X shortly after the bill was passed on Tuesday (July 21).
“It is up to the Constitutional Council to regulate, and take action to make this measure stronger and protect our children on the Internet,” the post, translated from French.
French legislators held final discussions on Monday (July 20) to amend certain parts of the bill in line with the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The bill also bans digital technology such as smartphones from schools, leaving the case to be decided by internal school rules. Online encyclopaedias, academic or scientific directories will not be subject to the ban.
“France is at the forefront of Europe in protecting our children and our youth,” Macron told reporters. “We will keep going.”
The law, which was passed for consideration in the lower national assembly earlier this year, does not specify which social networks will be covered by the law, but a similar EU campaign aims to restrict children from ‘social networks+’, defined as social media and other digital resources that contain age-appropriate or dangerous features.
This can include platforms with addictive and dangerous features such as endless scrolling, autoplay, recommendation algorithms and persistent notifications.
AI systems, including friends, video games that expose children to “dangerous commercial practices” or “dangerous contacts”, and video sharing platforms that allow inappropriate access for children are also included.
However, in general, countries that restrict social media have stuck to major social and video-sharing platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram; YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and TikTok.
Australia was the first country to ban social media for under 16s, along with a few other countries such as Canada and the UK.
Across the bloc, Sweden and Greece currently propose raising the minimum social media age to 15, while Denmark is considering a limit of 16. Others, including Portugal, Spain, Germany and Poland, are also considering legislation on the subject.
The EU has said it wants to deal with this issue at the highest level to avoid further fragmentation of the single market and to establish a level of access to social media that children can enjoy across the region.
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Emmanuel Macron, president of France. Photo: Face of the World/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
