PARIS (AP) — French lawmakers voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would prohibit children younger than 15 from accessing social media, making France the first nation in the European Union to enact a sweeping, across-the-board ban on the platforms. The move comes as concern continues to mount around the world about the damaging impact of digital content on young people.
Both houses of the French Parliament approved the measure, which stands as a major initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron’s second term in office. In addition to the social media restrictions, the bill also prohibits the use of mobile phones in high schools.
The vote drew praise from children’s advocates and parents, particularly from families who have taken legal action against TikTok, blaming the platform for teen suicides they say were connected to harmful content.
One supporter, Gaëlle Berbonde, a 52-year-old living in the Paris area, explained why she backed the legislation. “We’ve been campaigning for this bill from the start because, frankly, we have no other option, no other way to counter tech giants,” she said. “The only thing we can do is protect our children, just as we protect our children from drinking alcohol.”
Berbonde shared her family’s personal experience with The Associated Press, recounting how her daughter received her first smartphone while in seventh grade. Although a parental control app was used to monitor the girl’s online activity, Berbonde said she had little understanding of what TikTok actually was. Within a few months, the family discovered that the daughter had been cutting herself and was struggling with anorexia and depression. The girl spent a year and a half receiving hospital care but is now 16 years old and doing well.
The new law is among the last significant pieces of legislation expected to be approved during Macron’s presidency before he leaves office next year. Macron has expressed a desire for the law to be in place by the start of the new school year this September. However, the bill may first undergo a review to determine whether it aligns with the French Constitution, which could push back its implementation.
The ban would not apply to online encyclopedias or educational and scientific reference sites.
Not all lawmakers were on board. Members of the left-wing party France Unbowed voted against the bill, raising concerns that its constitutionality is questionable, that it could effectively eliminate online anonymity, and that enforcing it would be extremely difficult.
Ines Legendre, a legal advisor with the online protection organization e-Enfance, cautioned that the law will not instantly result in a full ban going into effect.
“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? And then there’s the question of age verification for all new accounts that will come into effect,” she said.
Data from France’s health watchdog shows that one out of every two teenagers spends between two and five hours each day on a smartphone. A report released in December found that roughly 90% of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 use smartphones daily to get online, with 58% of them using their devices specifically to access social media.
That report also identified a variety of harmful outcomes tied to social media use among youth, including lower self-esteem and greater exposure to content linked to dangerous behaviors such as self-harm, drug use, and suicide.
The path to final passage included last-minute negotiations on Monday after the European Commission determined that an earlier version of the bill overlapped with the EU’s Digital Services Act, a set of regulations designed to protect internet users. Lawmakers reached a compromise on a revised version of the bill, which was then put to a vote in both chambers.
