France becomes the first EU country to set a national age limit for social media. New accounts for under-15s are blocked from Sept. 1, with existing accounts to close within four months.
France has approved a law banning children under 15 from social media, becoming the first country in the European Union to pass such a broad restriction on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X.
Both chambers of the French Parliament backed the measure Tuesday. Under the law, children younger than 15 will not be allowed to open new social media accounts starting Sept. 1. Platforms will then have four months to close existing accounts held by users under 15, Reuters reported.
The law also requires social media companies to use age verification systems approved by France’s privacy regulator, according to Reuters. Arcom, the country’s audiovisual and digital regulator, will enforce the ban, CNN reported. The goal, French officials say, is to protect children from online harms, including addictive design, harmful content, cyberbullying and the mental health risks linked to heavy social media use.
The checks will reach beyond teenagers. “For four months, all of us in France will have to prove our age,” Digital Minister Anne Le Henanff told journalists, according to France 24.
The ban includes exceptions. Online encyclopedias and educational or scientific directories are not covered, The Associated Press reported.
The concerns behind the law are well documented at home. France’s health watchdog said in a December report that about 90% of children ages 12 to 17 use smartphones daily to go online, and 58% use their devices for social networks. The report linked heavy use to reduced self-esteem and greater exposure to content tied to self-harm, drug use and suicide.
The vote comes as governments around the world face growing pressure from parents, child safety advocates and health experts to act on children’s digital lives. Australia’s ban for users under 16, the first of its kind, took effect in December. Britain announced its own restrictions for under-16s last month, expected to take effect next year, and Spain, Greece and Denmark are planning age limits of their own, CNN reported.
President Emmanuel Macron championed the measure and wants it in place by the start of the new school year in September. “France is leading the way in Europe in protecting our children and our teenagers,” he said.
Implementation could still face legal and technical hurdles. A review of whether the law complies with the French Constitution is likely and could delay its rollout, the AP reported. Lawmakers had already amended the text in final negotiations Monday, after the European Commission found an earlier version overlapped with the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc’s online safety rulebook.
The law is part of a wider French effort to reduce children’s screen exposure. It extends the country’s school phone ban, in place for primary and middle schools since 2018, to high schools, with the government aiming for the start of the school year in September.
For parents, the French decision sharpens a question now being debated in many countries: should children be kept off social media until a certain age, or should platforms be forced to become safer for young users?
Supporters say age limits give children more time to grow before entering spaces built around constant attention, likes, comparison and algorithmic feeds. Critics counter that bans are hard to enforce, may push children to hide their online activity and raise privacy concerns, since age checks often require sensitive personal information. In Parliament, lawmakers from the left-wing France Unbowed party opposed the bill, arguing its constitutionality is unclear, that it would effectively end online anonymity and that it would be impossible to enforce, the AP reported.
However the legal review plays out, France’s vote marks a shift. Children’s online safety is moving from a family-level concern to a matter of national policy. For parents, schools and platforms, the debate is no longer only about screen time. It is about who carries the responsibility for protecting children online.
