French lawmakers expected to approve social media ban for children under 15, joining global wave

The French vote

France's upper house, the Senate, approved legislation on July 21 that would ban children under 15 from accessing social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. The lower house, the National Assembly, is expected to follow later in the day after a compromise between the two chambers was reached on Monday. Digital Minister Anne Le Henanff celebrated the milestone.

Tomorrow, France will become the first country in Europe to introduce a digital age limit to better protect our children online.

President Emmanuel Macron has championed the law as a flagship reform of his final term, which also includes a mobile phone ban in secondary schools to be enforced by September.

Two-stage rollout

The social media ban will take effect in two phases. From September 1, 2026, children younger than 15 will be blocked from creating new accounts on social media. Existing accounts belonging to under-15s must be shut down by platforms within four months, a deadline that falls in January 2027. The lower house's broader approach, which rejects a Senate proposal for a blacklist of harmful platforms, won out during negotiations. Exceptions are carved out for educational platforms and online encyclopaedias.

The measure aligns with a growing body of research. France's public health watchdog last year warned that platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram were detrimental to adolescent mental health, particularly for girls, though it acknowledged social media was not the sole cause of declining well-being.

A global crackdown on child access

France is not acting in isolation. Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for under-16s, with the law taking effect on December 10, 2025, and penalties of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliant firms. In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on June 15 that a ban for under-16s would be approved by Christmas 2026, with enforcement slated for Spring 2027. Starmer also said on June 8 that tech firms must deploy technical solutions to detect and block nude images on children's smartphones, with legislation as a backstop. Denmark has already moved to ban social media for under-15s, while allowing parental consent for children down to 13. Germany requires parental consent for minors aged 13 to 16. China operates a "minor mode" with device-level screen-time restrictions. Greece is reportedly "very close" to a similar ban for under-15s.

EU and the push for phased access

The European Commission is weighing a bloc-wide approach. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen last week advocated for children to have "phased and gradual access" to social media, echoing calls from member states including France, Greece and Spain. The compromise text passed by French lawmakers avoided a blacklisting mechanism partly to reduce the risk of non-compliance with European law, according to centrist senator Catherine Morin-Desailly, who shepherded the bill in the upper house.

Children should have phased and gradual access to social media.

Next steps

If the lower house backs the bill, France's new digital age limit will be the first of its kind in the EU. Social media companies face a tight timeline to implement age verification and account suspension systems. The September 1 start date for new accounts leaves just over five weeks for platforms to adapt. The broader debate over tech's impact on youth is unlikely to slow. With Australia's model already in place and Britain racing toward its own ban, the transatlantic regulatory patchwork is becoming denser. For now, France's imminent vote represents a significant legislative moment in that movement.