French lawmakers pass bill banning social media for under-15s

The lower National Assembly adopted the text by 130 votes to 21 in a lengthy overnight session from Monday to Tuesday. It will now go to the Senate, France's upper house, before becoming law.

Macron welcomes vote

Macron hailed the vote as a "major step" to protect French children and teenagers in a post on X.

The legislation, which also bans mobile phones in high schools, would make France the second country to take such a step, following Australia's ban for under-16s in December.

Rising concerns over screen time

As social media has grown, so has concern that excessive screen time is harming children's development and contributing to mental health problems. "The emotions of our children and teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated, either by American platforms or Chinese algorithms," Macron said in a video broadcast on Saturday.

Authorities want the measures to be enforced from the start of the 2026 school year for new accounts.

Former prime minister Gabriel Attal, who leads Macron's Renaissance party in the lower house, said he hoped the Senate would pass the bill by mid-February, allowing the ban to take effect on September 1.

Protecting young minds

In addition to combating the impact of screens and social media on the mental health of young adolescents, Attal stressed that the measure would counter "a number of powers that, through social media platforms, want to colonise minds".

France's public health watchdog ANSES said this month that social media such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram had several detrimental effects on adolescents, particularly girls, though it was not the sole reason for their declining mental health. The risks listed include cyberbullying and exposure to violent content.

Scope of the ban

The legislation stipulates that "access to an online social networking service provided by an online platform is prohibited for minors under the age of 15". The draft bill excludes online encyclopedias and educational platforms. An effective age-verification system must be in place for the ban to take effect. Work on such a system is underway at the European level.