French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AP)
France is preparing a second attempt at restricting social media for children under 15 while President Emmanuel Macron presses Brussels to turn the same age limit into a common European rule. The request came after France’s Constitutional Council stopped the country’s planned restrictions before they could take effect on September 1.
He made the EU push in an August 29 letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for a new “European legislative text” to “protect all children in the Union”. In his letter, Macron told von der Leyen that it was now “essential to go further” and harmonise the under-15 restriction through European legislation. He has also sought support among EU countries for a common “digital majority”, although governments differ over the age at which unrestricted social media access should begin, AFP reported. Von der Leyen has said Europe should consider “phased and gradual access for different age ranges”. Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a recent EU survey backed age-based restrictions on children’s social media access, according to the European Commission.
France’s parliament had backed restrictions barring children under 15 from social media from September 1. The Constitutional Council struck down the relevant provisions on August 14, meaning the ban never came into force. A separate French measure restricting mobile phone use in schools did take effect with the start of the 2026-27 academic year. Rules already applied in primary and middle schools were extended to high schools from September 1, according to the French education ministry.
It also raised concerns over safeguards governing age verification and personal data, Reuters reported.
The council found the blanket restriction disproportionate, saying it did not sufficiently distinguish between platforms according to the risks they posed or between children based on factors including age, maturity and family circumstances. The proposed rules would also have required age verification and the closure of existing accounts belonging to users below the threshold.