France Passes Bill to Ban Social Media for Under-15s

The French parliament passed a bill on July 21 (local time) to ban social media use for minors under the age of 15.

According to the daily newspaper Le Monde, both the French Senate and the National Assembly approved the bill with an overwhelming majority on this day.

Reuters reported that with this move, France becomes the second country after Australia to legally restrict social media access for minors.

Anne Le Henaff, the Minister for Artificial Intelligence, stated in the Senate, "France is taking a leading role by becoming the first in Europe to introduce a 'digital age of majority'."

Under the bill, adolescents under 15 will be prohibited from creating social media accounts starting September 1, when the new school year begins.

Social media platforms will be granted a four-month grace period to close existing accounts.

Furthermore, platforms must implement an age verification system approved by the French data protection authority.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "As promised, the bill has now been passed," adding, "Starting with the new school year, social media use for those under 15 will be banned."

President Macron added, "It is now up to the Constitutional Council to make its decision, and after that, we must take action to effectively implement these measures to protect our children online."

In France, once parliament passes a law, the Constitutional Council conducts a final review to ensure there are no provisions that violate the constitution.

Social media companies have opposed such a blanket ban, arguing that they already have protective measures in place for minors, such as age restrictions.

However, they have stated that they will comply if governments enact relevant laws.

The European Commission is also preparing its own regulations to strengthen social media oversight across Europe to protect minors and will review whether the French bill aligns with existing EU regulations.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.