France passes law banning under-15s from social media

BBC

France's parliament has approved a law to ban social media for under-15s from January 2027, making it the first European country to block young people from the platforms.

The law will mean everyone in France must verify their age to access social media and comes as the UK and EU are developing their own limits in response to concerns for children's mental health.

French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed the move, which he had pledged to introduce to mark the end of his decade in office.

While sceptics have questioned the law's viability, the government has insisted that the online tools used to implement the age checks are effective and safe.

Both the French Senate and National Assembly adopted the ban on Tuesday, despite criticism from some on the left.

It will be implemented in two stages: from September, people under 15 will not be able to open accounts and age verification will be required on all new accounts.

In January 2027, this rule will apply to all existing accounts - meaning everyone in France will have to prove they are over 15 to use social media.

Once the ban is in place, social media platforms would need to use age-verification tools approved by the French privacy regulator, according to Reuters news agency.

But concerns have been raised about privacy, the efficacy of age-verification tools, the risk of young people bypassing them, and how quickly the ban has been designed and implemented, Agence France Presse reports.

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French Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff defended the speed of the law's implementation ahead of the vote "because age-verification tools already exist", the agency added.

France is the second country to introduce a ban, following Australia.

Despite Australia banning under-16s from social media in December, many continue to use these platforms.

In March, Australia's eSafety Commission announced seven out of 10 children aged under 16 who had a social media account before the ban still had "some access".

Given this, Professor of Internet Studies at Western Australia's Curtin University, Tama Leaver, told the BBC that the ban has "failed" in its technical aims.

But he says it has successfully shown that a ban "can be done," though he classifies it as "a bit of an experiment".

One lesson other countries can learn from its example is that "young people need to be part of this conversation" so that a ban is "done with them" and not "to them".

Leaver said France's ban may have a better chance of succeeding because of the requirement for everyone to verify their age, but that this will also increase privacy risks.

Additional risks of the ban include pushing young people into less-regulated online spaces and reducing their news consumption and political empowerment, he added.

Legislation restricting young people's access to social media has been ramping up around Europe in the past few months.

In June, former British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced under-16s in the UK will be banned from social media from January 2027.

An optional midnight curfew for UK teens aged 16 and 17 was also announced.