France’s lower house of parliament has approved legislation that would prohibit children under the age of 15 from using social media, a decisive step backed by President Emmanuel Macron as part of a broader effort to rein in excessive screen time and protect adolescent mental health. The bill passed the National Assembly by a margin of 130 to 21 during an overnight session from Monday into Tuesday, sending the measure to the Senate for further debate before it can become law.
If the Senate endorses the proposal, France would become the second country after Australia to impose nationwide restrictions on children’s access to social media platforms. The legislation goes further than age limits alone, also introducing a blanket ban on smartphones in all French high schools. Macron has publicly urged lawmakers to accelerate the legislative process so the rules can come into force at the start of the next school year in September.
The president has framed the issue as one of sovereignty and child protection. In a video shared with broadcaster BFMTV, Macron said that children’s brains and emotions “are not for sale” and should not be shaped or exploited by foreign technology companies. His remarks explicitly targeted the influence of US- and China-based platforms, reflecting growing unease in Europe over the power of global tech firms to shape behavior and attention.
Public health concerns have been central to the bill’s momentum. Earlier this month, France’s public health agency ANSES warned that platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram can have harmful effects on adolescents, with particular risks identified for girls. The agency cited links between heavy social media use and anxiety, self-esteem issues, and exposure to harmful content, strengthening calls for regulatory intervention.
France’s move fits into a broader international push to tighten controls on children’s online activity. In December, Australia became the first country to ban children under 16 from major platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Under Australian law, companies that fail to enforce the restrictions can face fines of up to A$50 million, setting a precedent for aggressive enforcement against technology firms.
At the same time, social media companies are facing mounting legal pressure. In the United States, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are confronting their first-ever product liability trial in Los Angeles, where they are accused of knowingly designing platforms to be addictive to children. The case marks a significant escalation in attempts to hold tech companies legally accountable for the impact of their products on young users.
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is also under widening scrutiny in Europe. The company has been hit with a €797 million antitrust fine linked to Facebook Marketplace and is the subject of multiple investigations and legal actions related to copyright, data protection, and targeted advertising in countries including Spain, France, Germany, and Norway. TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has similarly faced a series of lawsuits since its launch, including cases in the US alleging failures to adequately protect children’s privacy.
Together, these developments underscore a shifting regulatory landscape in which governments are increasingly willing to intervene in the digital lives of children. France’s proposed ban, if enacted, would place the country at the forefront of that movement, signaling a readiness to challenge the dominance of global social media platforms in the name of public health and child welfare.
