France Bans Social Media for Kids Under 15, a First for the EU
France became the first country in the European Union (EU) to ban children under 15 years old from using social media.
Both chambers of France’s Parliament voted in favor of the law, PBS reports, with lawmakers citing growing concerns of the harmful impact of social media on children.
Sentiment against social media use for children has grown in France in recent years, due in part to teen suicides that parents believe are the result of exposure to harmful content. Some French families have sued TikTok over these deaths, PBS notes.
“We’ve been campaigning for this bill from the start because, frankly, we have no other option, no other way to counter tech giants,” French citizen Gaëlle Berbonde said. “The only thing we can do is protect our children, just as we protect our children from drinking alcohol.”
Berbonde told The Associated Press that her daughter, now 16, got her first smartphone when she was in the seventh grade. Berbonde used parental control apps but did not fully understand what her daughter was exposed to on TikTok. The child eventually began cutting herself off and suffered from depression and anorexia, ultimately spending a year and a half in the hospital.
While Berbonde’s daughter eventually recovered, not all children do. French President Emmanuel Macron has treated the social media ban as a signature part of his platform.
“France is leading the way in Europe in protecting our children and teenagers. We will keep on going,” Macron said.
It is worth noting that the United Kingdom, obviously not in the EU anymore, is actively trying to institute a similar type of social media ban.
Not everyone in France is on board with the bill, which is now under review to check whether it has any constitutional issues.
Left-wing party France Unbowed argues that the bill may be unconstitutional, adding that a ban like this is “impossible to enforce” and any attempts to do so would effectively end the era of anonymity online. This is a major issue with ban bills like this, as seeing if someone is old enough to use social media requires identifying them.
Age verification laws have run into major issues worldwide, including in the United Kingdom, where people have used video game photo modes to bypass the country’s Online Safety Act.
While France is paving new ground in Europe, it is not the first country to attempt to implement a ban like this. Australia instituted a national ban in 2024. However, it has struggled mightily to enforce it, claiming that social media companies are not doing enough to comply with the law and prevent children from using social media.
In the US, multiple states are working on partial and total social media bans for children, including most recently Massachusetts. A federal social media ban is not imminent in the US, although Senator Brian Schatz has proposed the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) that has garnered some bipartisan support.
Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.com.
