France is set to ban children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms after a joint committee of Parliament approved a landmark bill aimed at protecting young people online.
A reconciliation committee of the French Parliament on Monday approved legislation that would prohibit children under 15 years of age from accessing social media platforms.
The bill, which will be debated in the National Assembly on Tuesday before moving to the Senate, forms part of France’s efforts to strengthen online protections for minors.
President Emmanuel Macron has expressed his desire for the measure to take effect before the start of the new school year in early September.
If enacted, France would become one of the first European countries to introduce such restrictions, following Australia, which passed the world’s first nationwide social media ban for children under 16 in December. The Australian law applies to major platforms, including Meta’s Facebook, Snap’s Snapchat, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube.
Macron has also been advocating similar measures across the European Union, arguing that stricter safeguards are needed to protect children from the harmful effects of excessive social media use.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recently voiced support for limiting children’s access to social media across the 27-member bloc.
Under the proposed French law, the country’s information technology minister will compile a list of social media platforms covered by the ban.
The legislation would also require social media companies to implement age-verification systems approved by France’s privacy regulator to prevent underage users from accessing their services.
In addition to the social media restrictions, the bill proposes banning the use of smartphones in French high schools as part of broader efforts to improve students’ learning environment and reduce digital distractions.
