France passes under-15 social media ban, diverging from EU strategy
France has approved a blanket social media ban for children under 15, creating a regulatory divergence from Brussels that complicates compliance for tech platforms across Europe.
The French parliament has approved a blanket ban on social media use for children under 15, defying a recent EU recommendation to focus on platform design rather than user age. The National Assembly passed the legislation on Tuesday evening with 279 votes in favour and 81 against, making it the first outright ban of its kind in Europe.
The law prohibits minors from creating new accounts starting on 1 September. Existing accounts held by users under the age threshold are expected to be restricted by January 2027. President Emmanuel Macron heavily prioritised the bill, fast-tracking it through the legislature to ensure the rules are in place before the start of the next school year.
“We must regain control over the lives of our children and teenagers on the web and set the digital age of majority at 15, not before,” Macron wrote on Instagram after the vote. Digital minister Anne Le Hénanff similarly framed the law as a continental catalyst. “France is leading the way. Our approach is already inspiring many European partners and has helped to make the protection of minors online one of the priorities of the Digital G7,” she wrote online.
For technology companies operating across the bloc, the French legislation creates a fragmented regulatory landscape. While Paris mandates a strict age cutoff, the European Commission outlined a different path in a report published on 13 July. Brussels advocates for targeting specific manipulative design elements, such as endless scrolling and individually targeted content, rather than enforcing an outright access ban.
This places the regulatory onus directly on Big Tech to make its platforms inherently safer. The EU is currently investigating Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook over their addictive features, reflecting this more nuanced, design-focused strategy. Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte voted against the French bill to align with this European approach. “The aim is, first and foremost, to protect users from dangerous features,” he told the assembly, advocating instead for a system of "gradual access" favoured by the EU.
The practical implementation of the French ban remains highly uncertain. The government has yet to detail exactly which social networks will fall under the law. Furthermore, there is no clear explanation of how applications will reliably identify underage users to enforce the tight September deadline, leaving tech platforms guessing about the technical requirements they must suddenly meet.
