France becomes the first European Union country to ban social media for children under 15

France has become the first country in the European Union to ban social media for children under the age of 15, after its parliament approved the landmark law by 279 votes to 81.

Under the new law, children under the age of 15 will be banned from creating new social media accounts on platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat from September, while existing accounts will be closed from January 2027, according to the law.

The bill would also ban cell phones in high school and require social media sites to introduce age verification checks.

“France is at the forefront of Europe when it comes to protecting our children and young people,” said President Emmanuel Macron, hailing the passage of the law as a historic moment.

Earlier this year, France’s public health department concluded that social media has harmful effects on the mental health of young people, especially girls.

Macron has made children’s online safety a defining issue of the final years of his presidency, and the ban may be one of the last major changes he makes at home. Macron will mark ten years in office next year, and will not run again in April’s general election as, like the US, France has a two-term limit for its presidents.

Will it work?

Critics say the biggest challenge will be enforcement. Many question whether age verification technology is strong enough to prevent children from accessing social media.

Some teens may bypass restrictions by using VPNs, fake birthdays or accounts created by older friends or family members.

Privacy campaigners have also warned that stricter age checks could require users to provide more personal information, while others say the ban could push young people to less regulated platforms rather than reducing the time they spend online.

“The global rollout of social media bans must be a serious threat to the freedom and privacy of millions of Internet users around the world. Requiring users to upload sensitive ID or biometric information to access social media does not keep children safe, but presents a serious risk to Internet safety and privacy for all users of all ages,” Maya Thomas, head of legal and policy at the British organization Big Brother Watch, told CBS.

“We have seen in Australia that the ban on social media can be easily avoided, some children even skip the age gates by drawing fake moustaches. Governments that wish to deal with the dangerous business practices of social media companies should do so by directly regulating the companies, not by imposing restrictions on their users,” said Thomas.

Australia’s experience has raised concerns about the effectiveness of blanket bans.

Australia became the first country to take this step when it banned children under the age of 16 from social media by the end of 2025. But almost 70% of parents polled by Australia’s internet regulator in March say their children are still online. platforms, which have found ways to bypass aging systems.

French law includes exemptions for educational forums and online encyclopedias.

Broad trends and “digital sovereignty”

The social media ban is part of a broader push by France under Macron, along with other EU allies, on “digital sovereignty.” The idea is that Europe should be less dependent on American and Chinese technology companies, while taking a strong regulatory approach to the digital economy and promoting European alternatives.

In January, Macron said in a post on X that French “children’s brains are not for sale. Neither are American platforms or Chinese networks.”

The strategy goes beyond social media. France and Germany recently announced plans to develop alternative military software provided by the US company Palantir, and France’s domestic intelligence agency ended a contract with the American technology company earlier this year.

And while France is the first EU member state to introduce such a ban, it is unlikely to be the last.

“It is clear that we need age-appropriate restrictions on platforms,” ​​European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week.

Last month, the UK also announced plans to introduce bans on social media accounts for children under the age of 16 from January 2027.

But with the upcoming ban, the parliamentary vote makes France the second country in the world to introduce a ban on children’s social media, following Australia.

As more than a dozen other countries, including Canada, Denmark and Malaysia, weigh their legislation to limit children’s access to social media, France may provide another early test case, with governments around the world looking closely to see if outright bans can achieve their intended goals.