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2h ago

France Votes to Bar Under-15s From Social Media

The law requires regulator‑approved age checks in a two-stage rollout overseen by Arcom and it now faces a likely Constitutional Council review.

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MORZINE, FRANCE - APRIL 11: Three teenage boys look at their smartphone screens in village of St Jean d'Aulps on April 11, 2026 near Morzine, France. In the UK, a ban on social media for under-16s has been backed by the House of Lords following the Australian law which aims to stop children under 16 from having social media accounts and social media platforms. The amount of time children spend on screens each day rocketed during the Covid pandemic by more than 50 per cent and researchers say that unmoderated screen time can have long-lasting effects on a child's mental and physical health. Recently TikTok announced that every account belonging to a user below age 18 have a 60-minute daily screen time limit automatically set. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • French lawmakers gave final approval to the measure in votes this week, with the National Assembly passing the bill after the Senate and President Emmanuel Macron urging rapid enactment.
  • The law starts by blocking new accounts for under-15s from September 1, 2026 and requires platforms to close existing under-15 accounts by January 2027.
  • Platforms must use age‑verification systems approved by France’s privacy regulator and Arcom will enforce the rules, but technical standards and implementation details will be set by regulators after the vote.
  • Enforcement doubts persist because Australia’s earlier under‑16 ban saw large‑scale circumvention and studies found most children kept access, and stronger age checks risk collecting sensitive identity or biometric data that raise privacy and security concerns.
  • The measure is part of a wider international push for a legal ‘digital majority’ and could influence EU rules, with the next steps being regulatory rulemaking, potential legal challenges at the Constitutional Council, and scrutiny of whether platforms can meet verification and removal obligations.