Technology & Science
France Tables Bill to Bar Under-15s from Social Media Starting Sept 2026
On 1 Jan 2026 Paris circulated draft legislation—backed by President Macron—that would make it illegal for any platform to host users younger than 15 and extend France’s school phone ban to high schools, aiming to enforce the restrictions at the start of the September 2026 term.
Focusing Facts
- The bill fixes a hard launch date: week of 1 September 2026, when the new academic year opens, after which platforms must block or delete all under-15 accounts.
- In December 2025 the French Senate separately approved a requirement that 13- to 16-year-olds obtain parental consent before opening social-media accounts.
- An Ipsos poll (Sept 2025) showed 80 % of French adults support banning social networks for children under 14.
Context
States have periodically stepped in when new technologies collide with childhood—from Britain’s 1833 Factory Act limiting child mill workers, to the U.S. 1998 COPPA law on kids’ data, to Australia’s 2025 under-16 social-media ban that Paris now copies. France’s move fits a century-long arc of shifting power from parents or industry self-regulation toward formal state rules on youth welfare. Yet the EU’s Digital Services Act already blocked France’s 2023 “digital legal age,” so this reprise tests whether national child-protection claims can override single-market rules—much as 1960s European TV-ad bans on tobacco eventually harmonised into EU-wide standards. If France succeeds, it could seed an EU-level template; if it stalls, it will underscore the limits of unilateral tech governance in a borderless internet. On a 100-year horizon the episode marks another step in the gradual normalisation of age-gating online spaces—analogous to the 1970s seat-belt mandates: initially controversial, later routine—but its lasting impact will hinge on enforcement tech and whether under-age users simply migrate to encrypted or offshore platforms, repeating the historical cat-and-mouse pattern between regulators and youth culture.
Perspectives
Tabloid and populist outlets
e.g., Daily Mail Online, Leadership — Present the French plan as a dramatic, long-overdue crackdown that will finally shield children from cyber-bullying, addiction and rising youth violence. Sensational framing leans on fear-laden language and selectively cites public-opinion polls, glossing over free-speech concerns or the practical difficulty of age verification.
Business and tech-industry press
e.g., Business Insider, WebProNews — Cast the measure as part of a wider regulatory wave that may backfire, stressing legal obstacles, enforcement headaches, economic costs and vocal criticism from Meta, Google and other platforms. Coverage foregrounds corporate talking points about feasibility and innovation risks, potentially downplaying evidence of harm to minors and the broad political support the ban enjoys.
International mainstream newswires
e.g., The Nation Thailand, Jamaica Observer — Report the proposal in procedural terms—Macron backs draft legislation, parliamentary debate looms, and EU rules could complicate passage—while noting broad cross-party support. Reliance on official statements and AFP/Reuters copy can make the coverage appear dispassionate, giving limited space to dissenting voices or to children’s-rights advocates who warn of unintended consequences.