France Becomes First EU Country to Pass Law Banning Social Media for Under-15s

Overview

France’s parliament voted on Tuesday to bar children under 15 from social media, making the country the first in the European Union to pass a blanket ban of its kind. The National Assembly approved the measure 279 votes to 81, according to CBS News, while the Senate backed it 243 to 2, according to IAPP.

President Emmanuel Macron, who has championed the measure, called its passage “a major step forward” and said “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers,” as reported by CBS News and Al Jazeera.

What We Know

• The law will block under-15s from creating new social media accounts starting September 1, with existing accounts of underage users required to be closed from January 2027, according to Al Jazeera and IAPP.
• The ban carves out exemptions for online encyclopedias and educational or scientific directories, according to Al Jazeera.
• Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff said platforms must comply with the age cutoff, telling reporters, “If someone is under 15, the account will be closed,” according to Al Jazeera.
• The measure still requires review by France’s Constitutional Council before it can take effect. Macron said, “The Constitutional Council must now rule on it, and then it will be time to take action to make this measure a reality and protect our children online,” according to Al Jazeera.
• The push follows findings from France’s health watchdog, published in a December report, that roughly 90% of children between 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to access the internet, with 58% of them using their devices for social networks, and that one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a smartphone, according to PBS NewsHour. The same report found harmful effects associated with social network use, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content tied to self-harm, drug use and suicide, according to PBS NewsHour.
• Parent advocate Gaëlle Berbonde, 52, said, “We’ve been campaigning for this bill from the start because, frankly, we have no other option, no other way to counter tech giants. The only thing we can do is protect our children, just as we protect our children from drinking alcohol,” according to PBS NewsHour.

What We Don’t Know

• The law does not specify a technical age-verification method, and enforcement questions remain open. Ines Legendre, a legal adviser at the child-protection group e-Enfance, said, “We’ll also have to address the issue of existing accounts for those under 15. How do we identify them? How do we suspend them?” according to PBS NewsHour.
• It is not yet clear how the Constitutional Council review, still pending, could affect the September timeline.
• Maya Thomas, a legal and policy officer at the British civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, warned that age-verification mandates carry their own risks, saying, “Requiring users to upload sensitive ID or biometric information to access social media does not keep children safe, but does introduce serious cybersecurity and privacy risks for all users of all ages,” according to CBS News. She added that bans can be circumvented, pointing to Australia: “We have already seen in Australia that a social media ban can easily be circumvented, with some children even bypassing age gates by drawing on fake moustaches,” according to CBS News.

Analysis

France’s law arrives as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that “it is clear we need age-appropriate restrictions to platforms,” according to CBS News, and as the European Commission works on its own EU-wide age-restriction proposals, according to IAPP.

France is not the first country to try this. Australia’s law barring under-16s from major platforms — including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X, Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch — took effect on December 10, 2025, backed by fines that started at A$49.5 million and were doubled to A$99 million after regulators found compliance falling short, according to Euronews. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found that 70% of children who held accounts on restricted platforms on the day the ban took effect were still active on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok three months later, according to Euronews. That track record underlines the enforcement gap France’s own law has yet to close: like Australia’s, it sets a hard age line before settling on how platforms are supposed to verify it.