The French parliament has approved a law banning social media for under-15s from January 2027, making it the first European country to ban young people from social media.
The law will mean everyone in France must prove their age to access social media and comes as the UK and EU improve their restrictions in response to concerns about children’s mental health.
French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed the initiative, which he pledged to introduce to mark the end of his ten years in office.
While skeptics have questioned the effectiveness of the law, the government has insisted that online age-checking tools are effective and safe.
Both the French Senate and the National Assembly approved the ban on Tuesday, despite criticism from some on the left.
It will be used in two stages:
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From September, people under the age of 15 will not be able to open accounts and age verification will be required for all new accounts.
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In January 2027, the law will apply to all existing accounts – meaning everyone in France will have to prove they are over 15 to use social media.
Once the ban is in place, social networks will have to use age verification tools approved by France’s privacy regulator, according to Reuters news agency.
But concerns have been raised about privacy, the effectiveness of age-verification tools, the risk of young people not passing them on, and how quickly the ban was designed and implemented, reports Agence France Presse.
France’s Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff defended the speedy implementation of the law ahead of the vote “because age verification tools already exist”, the agency added.
France is the second country to introduce a ban, following Australia.
Although Australia banned under-16s from social media in December, it is widely acknowledged that many continue to use the platforms.
In March, Australia’s eSafety Commission announced seven out of ten children under the age of 16 who had social media accounts before the ban “still have some access”.
Given this, Western Australia’s Curtin University Professor of Internet Studies Tama Leaver told the BBC that the ban “failed” in its technical aims.
But, he says, it has successfully shown the ban “can be done” although he classifies it as a “small test”.
Another lesson that other countries can learn from their example is that “youth need to be part of this conversation” so that the ban “ends with them” and not “for them”.
Leaver said France’s ban may have a higher chance of success because of the requirement for everyone to verify their age, but that would also increase privacy risks.
Additional risks of the ban include pushing young people into less regulated areas online, reducing their media consumption and political empowerment, he added.
Legislation restricting youth access to social media has been gaining momentum in Europe for the past few months.
In June, former British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that under-16s in the UK would be banned from social media from January 2027. A midnight curfew was also announced for UK 16- and 17-year-olds.
In May, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested a “social media delay” for children in Europe and said new legislation could be introduced in months.
