This makes France the first country in Europe to enact such a ban, following Australia’s lead, which introduced the world’s first restriction for those under 16 on platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube last December.
“France is paving the way by being the first nation in Europe to establish a digital majority,” stated Anne Le Hénanff, the junior minister for AI, during a senate session.
Both legislative chambers—the Senate and the National Assembly—approved the ban on the same day.
President Emmanuel Macron, who encouraged young people in April to disconnect from their phones and engage in reading to become more responsible citizens, aims to have the law enacted by the beginning of the next academic year.
Under this new law, children below 15 years old will be prohibited from creating social media accounts starting September 1. Social media platforms will have an additional four months to deactivate existing accounts. Additionally, these platforms will need to implement age verification methods approved by the French data protection authority.
Social media companies typically resist outright bans and emphasize that they already have measures in place to safeguard younger users, such as age limits. However, they have committed to comply with government directives when bans are enforced.
The European Commission is also developing its own regulations aimed at managing social media throughout Europe to protect young individuals, and they will assess whether France’s legislation aligns with existing European laws.
“We have abandoned you in this jungle, which has distracted you,” Macron remarked to teenagers at an event in April, referring to the absence of regulations surrounding social media. “We must slow down and assist you in becoming adults, and ultimately citizens.”
“Thus, our goal is to establish that there will be no social media for individuals under 15 years old,” he added.
(Edited by : Vivek Dubey)
