France reportedly planning social media ban for under-15s
President Emmanual Macron's government will soon submit draft legislation banning children under 15 from using social media, according to French media.
2 hours agoWed 31 Dec 2025 at 11:50pm
Emmanuel Macron reportedly wants France to follow Australia's lead by banning young people from social media ban. (Reuters: Heiko Becker)
In short:
The French government plans to ban social media for children under the age of 15, according to local media reports.
President Emmanual Macron vowed to "protect our children and teenagers from social media" in his New Year's Eve address.
What's next?
Mr Macron's government will submit draft legislation for legal checks in early January, Le Monde and France Info have reported.
France's government is set to ban children under the age of 15 from social media sites and prohibit mobile phones in high schools from September 2026, according to local media reports.
President Emmanuel Macron has often pointed to social media as one of the causes of violence among young people and has signalled he wants France to follow Australia, which earlier this month implemented a world-first social media ban for under-16s.
Mr Macron's government will submit draft legislation for legal checks in early January, Le Monde and France Info have reported.
He did not specifically reference the legislative push in his New Year's Eve address to the country, but he did pledge to "protect our children and teenagers from social media and screens".
The offices of Mr Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu earlier declined to comment on the media reports.
Mobile phones have been banned in French primary and middle schools — for pupils aged 11 to 15 — since 2018. The reported new changes would extend that ban to high schools.
France also passed a law in 2023 requiring social platforms to obtain parental consent for under-15s to create accounts. However, technical challenges have impeded its enforcement.
Push for EU regulation
Mr Macron said in June, after a fatal stabbing at a school in eastern France shocked the nation, that he would push for regulation at the European Union level to ban access to social media for all under-15s.
The European Parliament in November urged the EU to set minimum ages for children to access social media to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents due to excessive exposure, although only the member states can impose age limits.
Cracking down further on minors' access to social media could prove popular, according to opinion polls, amid an escalating political crisis in France.
Reuters