France is poised to become one of the first countries in Europe to restrict social media access for children under 15 after the National Assembly approved a key bill on Monday.
The legislation, strongly supported by President Emmanuel Macron, passed the lower house with a vote of 116-23 and now moves to the Senate for final approval.
If enacted, networks such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram would be off-limits to young teenagers. The move aligns with a growing international trend of regulating social media use for minors, following evidence that platforms can negatively affect mental and emotional health.
A similar law was passed in Australia last year.
After the vote, Macron described the development as a “major step” and called for the government to fast-track the legislation. Writing on social media, he said: “Our children’s brains are not for sale,” urging the ban to take effect as early as the 2026–2027 school year, starting 1 September.
The bill, championed by MP Laure Miller, aims to establish clear societal limits on social networks. Speaking to Le Monde, Miller said:
“With this law we will set down a clear limit in society. We are saying something very simple: social networks are not harmless. These networks promised to bring people together. They pulled them apart. They promised to inform. They saturated us with information. They promised to entertain. They shut people away.”
Macron echoed these concerns last month, saying: “We cannot leave the mental and emotional health of our children in the hands of people whose sole purpose is to make money out of them.”
Under the proposed law:
- A state media regulator would create a list of social networks considered harmful and ban them for users under 15.
- Less harmful sites could still be accessed by minors, but only with parental consent.
- A ban on mobile phone use in senior schools (lycées) would be implemented; junior and middle schools already follow a similar policy.
The bill will also require age-verification mechanisms, similar to systems that restrict access to online pornography for over-18 users.
The legislation stems from a parliamentary committee led by Miller, which investigated the psychological effects of platforms like TikTok. The government was tasked with drafting complementary legislation after Macron made the initiative a priority in his final year in office.
Despite earlier tensions within the government, including disagreements with former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the bill has gained unified support. The Senate is expected to review and pass the law within the next month, with Macron urging Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to fast-track the process ahead of the new school year.
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