'Not for American platforms or Chinese algorithms': France’s Macron targets tech giants with social media ban for under-15s.
Children and teenagers in France under the age of 15 could be banned from social media as early as the next school year, President Emmanuel Macron has said.
In a video message shared with broadcaster BFMTV on Saturday, Macron said he asked lawmakers to speed up the process of passing legislation restricting social media access for under-15s, so it would take effect by the start of the school year this September.
"Our children and teens' brains are not for sale," the French President said in the video. "Our children and teens' emotions are not for sale, or to be manipulated - not by American platforms nor Chinese algorithms."
French member of parliament Laure Miller, of Macron's Ensemble Pour la République (Together for the Republic) coalition, will bring a bill before the National Assembly on January 26 to be examined by lawmakers.
As well as restricting social media for all children under 15, the legislation would also ban smartphones in all French high schools.
The French legislation is part of a wave of measures being discussed across Europe, following Australia’s enforcement of the world’s strictest social media rules for children under 16 last year.
Denmark has also secured an agreement to block access to social media for anyone under 15 – a move that could potentially become law by mid-2026.
Complying with EU law
France has long pushed for stricter rules regarding children’s access to screens and social media.
In 2023, lawmakers passed legislation restricting social media access for minors under 15, and also required parental consent before they could open an account. However, the law never entered into force as it clashed with the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA).
After the EU revised its guidelines last year, member states gained more flexibility to decide on their own age limits for social media – whether that means banning access outright for children under a certain age, or requiring parental consent before they can open an account.
France's draft legislation does not specify which social media platforms will be included in the ban, but makes exceptions for encyclopedias such as Wikipedia and other “educational directories”.
The exact age verification method that will be used is also up for debate. Miller told local media that it would likely follow a similar procedure as with pornographic websites, which are required to verify users are over 18 by a 2024 law.
Porn websites primarily use two methods for age verification in France: The first asks users to submit a photo of their national ID card along with a selfie to confirm their identity; the second uses artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate a user’s age based on a selfie they submit.
