Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
EU Social Networks Government The Internet

France Becomes First European Country To Ban Social Media Access For Under-15s (theguardian.com) 96

Posted by BeauHD from the leading-the-way dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: France's parliament has approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making it the first European country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. The president, Emmanuel Macron, has championed the ban as a key reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. "France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers," Macron said in a video posted on social media, hailing "a major step forward."

He thanked members of parliament for backing the legislation on Tuesday. "The Constitutional Council must now rule on it, and then it will be time to take action to make this measure a reality and protect our children online," he added on X. After approval by the Senate earlier on Tuesday, members of the National Assembly passed the bill by 279 votes to 81. A growing number of countries are taking steps to restrict social media access amid multiplying warnings over its harmful effects on children.

The ban was to be introduced in two stages, with under-15s blocked from creating new accounts from September 1. The ban would apply to existing accounts from January 2027, according to the legislation. The digital minister, Anne Le Henanff, said before the vote that the timeline was realistic, "because age-verification tools already exist" and others are still in the works, and the onus was on the platforms to impose the rule. "For four months, all of us in France will have to prove our age," she told journalists. "If someone is under 15, the account will be closed." The minister also gave assurances that users' personal data would be protected.

France Becomes First European Country To Ban Social Media Access For Under-15s More | Reply

France Becomes First European Country To Ban Social Media Access For Under-15s

Comments Filter:

  • It'd be nice if we had the right article. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rhapsody Scarlet ( 1139063 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2026 @12:03AM (#66250738) Homepage

    I'm sure the rate of Arctic ice melt is important to know about but it's not what we're here to see.

  • To the French regulators.

  • This is the Big Tabacco moment (Score:3, Informative)

    by BitterEpic ( 10503015 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2026 @01:31AM (#66250812) Homepage
    It's been a while coming, but we are finally starting to see the Big Tabacco moment for tech. We have no business placing faith in Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft or Apple as the financials do not match up for appropriate behavior around children.

    • Re:This is the Big Tabacco moment (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2026 @03:27AM (#66250882) Homepage

      It's not really about protecting children though, it's about making adults have to prove they're adults by providing ID.

      • It's not really about protecting children though, it's about making adults have to prove they're adults by providing ID.

        Australia implemented similar rules last year. I'm a grown-up and I haven't had to submit ID to anyone.

      • Oh fuck off, no one even mentioned this concept before studies started linking social media to behavioural issues in children. Just because it happens to be linked to your conspiracy doesn't mean it was caused by your conspiracy.

      • Re: This is the Big Tabacco moment (Score:4, Informative)

        by toutankh ( 1544253 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2026 @05:10AM (#66251006)

        It can be both, they're not mutually exclusive. It's good to protect kids, it's bad to degrade privacy. Ideally we'll find a way to protect kids without degrading privacy, I won't hold my breath.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        That is a secondary goal, but one that the authoritarian assholes that want everybody watched all the time have had since the Internet became a thing. And these people are unfortunately everywhere, like a stink of rot that is always there once you look more closely.

      • Honestly it's more about tracking people and knowing who is a ai and who is a person so you can use their inputs to train AI. When it comes to the internet nobody really gets the rat's ass about proving you're an adult except for companies like Planitir and Facebook. Every single law requiring age verification can be traced back to one of those two.

        • This conspiracy is even more bonkers than the original one.

          There's a bunch of stuff going on. Social media companies are raking in huge profits while causing harm and many people reckon this is not OK and want them to not profit off kids while harming them. There is no conspiracy there.

          There are also authoritarians who want everything ID'd, and they're not going to be unhappy about ID requirements, but that doesn't mean the former are in cahoots with the latter.

          The AI bros... that sounds like an unusually w

          • "The AI bros... that sounds like an unusually well organised, long term plan."

            Thanks for that. I hadn't put together how logically inconsistent some of the anti-AI claims are. They can't both be shortsighted bumblers pumping up a bubble and well-organized long-term planners.

            I suspect that they are brilliant people, trying desperately to maintain their footing on ground that keeps changing, and flailing about as a result. I mean, "fear our product, it could end the world, but also invest in and use t

      • Oh, like when you buy alcohol or tobacco?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      This is not about children, but more of getting rid of anonymity. A lot of people think that this is a good thing, but it isn't. Ask people speaking out against their repressive governments (and no... the US isn't in this state... yet.). Ask journalists.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      The problem has been recognized as severe. Yes. That is a good thing. But the response to the problem is completely misguided and probably mostly ineffective. The problem is social media addictiveness and it does very much not only affect those younger than 15 years.

    • It's been a while coming, but we are finally starting to see the Big Tabacco moment for tech. We have no business placing faith in Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft or Apple as the financials do not match up for appropriate behavior around children.

      I understand some of this, but what is your claim that Amazon is messing with people's minds?

    • Social media has no nicotine. Social media has no tar. The whole reason social media makes "addicted" is because it serves people large amounts of stuff they find entertaining. The situation is similar to when TV offered 24h cartoon channels in the 80s or with broadband in the 2000s. And the solution is the same: Send your kids ass outside if you think they consume too much.

  • French father here... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by brebisson ( 4004735 ) on Wednesday July 22, 2026 @02:58AM (#66250864)

    Hello,

    I am french, I have 2 kids, now 19 (still a kid?) and 17.

    On one hand, I am 100% happy to see that law.

    I see way to many people, including my kids (and wife) "suck in" endless scrolling, harassed using these systems.
    Furthermore, I see how these systems are designed to "suck you in". And there is almost nothing you can do to fight it (except not go there). Education, training will NOT help you win against these systems who are run by professionals, using psychiatrist, endless A/B testing and resources. If you go on these networks, they will suck more and more of your time, energy, turn you into "human batteries" (aka Matrix) to feed themselves.

    On the other side,
    - They can also be great tools, blocking access to them can deprive kids from great opportunity. My 17 YO has been running a youtube channel for 3 years now (so, since she was 14), has over 50K subscribers (!) and is using it to bolster her "business" selling hand crafted masks. She has learned so much about so many things through this that it would have been a waste to not let her do it!
    - Mandatory age verification will be an imposition on all of us and reduce liberties for everyone
    - These are the tools of the area and kids will need to learn how to use them. Blocking them from doing so will render them less effective later.

    At the end I think that what should have hapend is that the law should have required these companies to stop being so agressive in trying to lock and keep people in, and also have some good mechanism for controlling "bad speach" (as a self repost?).... The lawmakers look at it, but it was judged unconstitutional and so they went with age verification.

    Cyrille

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Give links to your daughter's youtube channel please.

    • That is very relevant. I wonder about social media that is more focused on message exchange and expository functions, for example, someone posting a HOWTO, or maybe some way to handle some weird element. Something more forum based and organized along the lines of interests, as opposed to how it is now.

      What caused social media to fail is all the "here is some dude who paid some cash and spewing ragebait... he's now in your feed, deal with it. Lets make 3-5 new people a day, all bots, all spewing OPFOR pro

      • Social media per se isn't an ideally useful concept. We humans are adapted to living in small communities of between 20-50 people at the most. Large community communication systems such as social media are unnatural environments that cause dysfunctional outcomes and behaviours in humans when used. That's what we're seeing today.

        So no, I don't believe that social media can be done "right".

    • And you're comfortable with the internet watching your teenage daughter? You know what's happening, right?
  • Instead of banning algorithms that slowly erode our social structure, by exploiting every mechanism our species has learned to function, to generate more clicks, we try (in vain) to "protect the children". Let's face it, we lost control over big tech long ago, and the profit generating machine must feast until the last humman on earth starves alone on his big, big pile of money. Until only paperclips are left from the whole universe...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Yes. The whole thing is barking up the wring tree. Completely. The problem is the addictiveness designed-in into social media because that is their whole business model. And it does not only negatively affect people younger than 15 years.

      We can measure and analyze addictiveness. Outlaw it above a certain low level. Imprison CEOs if needed. We do it for drug-dealers.

  • It'll go better than Australia's ban...right? You know, the one was quickly and easily bypassed? Because we keep focusing the punishments in the wrong directions. You want to ban teens from social media, punish *the teens* not respecting the ban. Otherwise you're just forcing people who want to use social media to hand over even more personal data to either them or some other untrustworthy third party.

    • Because we keep focusing the punishments in the wrong directions. You want to ban teens from social media, punish *the teens* not respecting the ban.

      There really is a difference in societal view. No we will never punish children for falling to the tricks of evil megacorps.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

        No we will never punish children for falling to the tricks of evil megacorps.

        At some point you gotta start putting some responsibility on the individual (and those raising them). Should we punish big businesses when they're bad? Absolutely. Should the business be punished for users bypassing any restrictions that are set up? No. That would be like you getting punished for a random thief breaking into your safe. So, you force the companies to do their best efforts to remove teens without doing weirdly invasive verification and then local authorities work towards finding and punishing

        • That attitude is exactly what's wrong with most of you people in America. You think that society exists for corporations to make money off people. In the rest of the world, we believe that society's sole justification for existence is to serve its people. We call it the social contract.

          Our differences cannot be reconciled.

          • Well, not so long as you make up premises that don't exist and imagine that Americans believe them. It's really hard to reconcile with other people when all you see are the straw men you built.

            And are you sure that "society" is what you mean? That's just a group of associated people, more of a property they share than a purpose it has. Institutions have purpose. Governments have purpose. Society is what people find themselves in when they keep interacting with each other.

    • Australia's ban resulted in a 30% reduction in social media use. Also it's like smoking, it doesn't stop the addicts, it reduces the people who aren't yet addicted. Australia is an example of how amazingly successful this regulation is.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      You think punishing teens for wanting to learn about the world is a good idea? You must be an authoritarian asshole.

      • That implies two things with which I cannot agree. One is that "learn[ing] about the world" is a purpose or outcome of social media. The other is that it can or does serve as the only way to do so.
  • Which tools exactly is the French government vouching for, as far as their effectiveness?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      The are using the tool of "confidentially state what you want and it will magically come into existence". A mental defect typically found in politicians and some parts of the legal profession.

      • As long as they accept this as a valid compliance from social media companies - "we are have implemented all APIs to rely on this tool you trust, as soon as it is named".

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Obviously not. Then they would admit they have no clue. They are at least smart enough to see that. Well, most are.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Himmy32 ( 650060 )
      If they don't specify, then they can hold themselves blameless for the privacy violations. It's those evil companies that just implemented it wrong.

  • And it does nothing to protect 15 year old's and older. A lot of people would need that protection. The right way would be to force the social media companies to fix their act and reduce addictiveness. But that is their whole business model, so they are not going to do that by themselves.

    • And I wouldn't expect them to or expect anyone to make them. They still sell cigarettes in France. Adults are generally allowed to do addictive things.

  • How should the kids know that they are forbidden to access social media, when the law is posted by the president on social media only?

    Ah, well, they are French. They ignore laws they do not like, just like any other French does.

    P.S.
    Making the age barrier at 15, is completely retarded. And the law will likely be attacked in higher courts. With 18 they are allowed to vote ... what exactly is social media, anyway? Watching French TV on the official French TV webs site, and then commenting on news is "social me

    • Making the age barrier at 15, is completely retarded

      The age of consent in France is 15. French politicians no doubt set the social media age limit to that number for convenience. It means they can still use social media to contact the teenagers that it's legal for them to fuck.

  • And make parents accountable !!

  • "The minister also gave assurances that users' personal data would be protected."

    How about instead of assurances, there are hard, fast, and possibly deadly rules for what happens when users' personal data isn't protected. That'll make them really think about whether they want to link everything to identities.

  • Ban (Score:2)

    by pr0nbot ( 313417 )

    An interesting perspective I heard on this from some campaigner on the telly was: it's not banning your kids from accessing social media, it's banning social media companies from accessing your children.

    I think that better highlights that we're talking about enterprises with predatory interests.

  • Didn't UK already ban it? That would make France the first EU country but second European country?
  • https://www.theguardian.com/en... [theguardian.com] What's this to do with social media? Wait, was this article written by a 14 years old? Did they believe the arctic sea ice melt is causing the social media ban?!

    This is so confusing.
  • Is having sex with under-15s still okay in France? Trump and his friends want to know...
  • My daughter was taught by Facebook to lie, because they required people to be 13 or older to create an account. Rather than jumping through parental consent hoops, a whole generation was taught to just lie about their age, because there was no real verification of age. Those kids now all have Facebook accounts that say they are 5 years or so older than they actually are. How does a French person prove they are 15 or older? Get their middle-aged boyfriend to vouch for them? "I, Humbert Humbert, do solemly sw
  • Social media is addictive, and part of growing up to be an adult is to learn how to avoid addictions. Either the addictive power of social media is so strong even adults of sound mind cannot resist (e.g., heroin) or its a skill everyone must learn. How are children supposed to learn it if they are coddled by laws that outright ban it? At the same time banning drugs to protect kids is one thing, but banning speech? That is very novel and new territory. I read the Anxious Generation, and it is very compelling

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 0xG ( 712423 )

      Social media is addictive, and part of growing up to be an adult is to learn how to avoid addictions. Either the addictive power of social media is so strong even adults of sound mind cannot resist (e.g., heroin) or its a skill everyone must learn. How are children supposed to learn it if they are coddled by laws that outright ban it? At the same time banning drugs to protect kids is one thing, but banning speech? That is very novel and new territory. I read the Anxious Generation, and it is very compelling, but I also have kids, and you cannot raise kids that grow up to be healthy adults by relying on nameless government agencies to create a reality distortion field, that actually sets them up for failure. Just like with avoiding ice cream, not getting enough exercise, or watching too much Netflix (also disastrous for health but not being banned...) getting sucked into a social media self-validation loop needs to be taught, not banned.

      I grew up before social media existed, yet find myself very capable of resisting it.

Slashdot Top Deals

A penny saved is a penny to squander. -- Ambrose Bierce

Close