Overview
- France’s Parliament approved the law on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, with the National Assembly voting 279–81 after the Senate gave its backing.
- The law bars under-15s from creating new social‑media accounts from September 1, 2026 and requires platforms to cut access to existing under‑15 accounts from January 1, 2027.
- Platforms must implement age‑verification systems but the text does not prescribe a single technical method, leaving companies to choose mechanisms that regulators will review.
- The ban excludes online encyclopedias and educational projects and targets only social functions on hybrid services, while it also extends the school mobile‑phone ban to upper secondary schools.
- Critics cite fast timelines, technical feasibility, privacy trade-offs and possible conflicts with EU single‑market rules, and the law could influence similar measures across Europe if it clears constitutional and EU checks.