The big picture: As various governments grapple with how to rein in the effects of social media on children, many, including several European countries, are considering an outright youth ban. However, France has just demonstrated that balancing such legislation with constitutional freedoms remains tricky.
France’s highest court struck down a law this week that would have banned children under 15 from accessing social media networks such as Facebook and X. The legislation had previously sailed through the lower chambers of government with unusually broad bipartisan support.
In addition to blocking social media for children and young teenagers, the bill would have banned smartphone use in schools. Resources such as Wikipedia, GitHub, and scientific directories would have been exempt.
The National Assembly had approved the bill in January, voting 130 to 21, before the Senate passed it in July and the Assembly voted in favor again the same day by a margin of 279 to 81. President Emmanuel Macron, championing the legislation as a defense against American tech companies and Chinese algorithms, sought to fast-track the bill into force before the beginning of the school year in September.
However, France’s Constitutional Council ruled that the law infringed on freedom of expression and communication. The president now hopes to revise and reintroduce the ban before spring. If it passes, it will likely be one of his final major accomplishments before his term ends next year.
The law would make France the first European Union country to ban children from social media. The Norwegian and British parliaments plan to introduce similar legislation sometime this year, and Greece aims to enforce a ban in 2027. Spain is also weighing the issue.
Australia attempted to set an early example late last year, but recent data suggests that keeping kids off social media is easier said than done. Studies suggest that as many as 85% of under-16s who had accounts before the ban can still access them. While some underage users circumvented age gates with VPNs (which France might also target), most never encountered any restrictions.
While regulators accuse social media companies of dragging their heels on the issue, verifying users’ ages involves steep technical, security, and privacy-related challenges. Prior studies have shown that facial scans struggle to estimate teenagers’ ages, and uploading government IDs invites the risk of data breaches.
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