France is leading for the way for the EU to restrict youth access to social media, but its blanket ban poses concern to critics of the Australian model for not addressing the root cause of the problem.
Gaia Neiman
France passed Europe’s first social media restrictions for minors on Tuesday (21 July), with a blanket ban for users aged under 15 – going against the EU’s advised features-based restriction.
After passing in the French senate, the vote passed with 279 in favour to 81 against on Tuesday evening in the National Assembly in Paris.
The ban, strongly advocated by president Emmanuel Macron as one of the priorities of his term, was pushed up among parliamentary priorities so as to have effect before the next school year.
“We must regain control over the lives of our children and teenagers on the web and set the digital age of majority at 15, not before,” Macron said on Instagram after the bill passed in the second house.
Those under 15 years old will be prohibited from opening new accounts from 1 September, while existing accounts are expected to be restricted by January 2027.
“France is leading the way. Our approach is already inspiring many European partners and has helped to make the protection of minors online one of the priorities of the Digital G7,” French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff wrote on social media.
Unresolved issues
Many questions remain unanswered, however, such as which social networks would be covered by the ban, how apps would be able to identify restricted users, and how the government expects to meet the tight deadline.
The ban comes on the heels of an EU Commission report published on 13 July which conversely advocates for features-based restrictions, to combat manipulative design elements such as endless scrolling and individually targeted content.
The EU is also investigating social media platforms such as Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook for its addictive features, suggesting that the EU is following a more nuanced approach than an outright ban – putting the onus on Big Tech to do the work in renewing its features to make them safe.
“The aim is, first and foremost, to protect users from dangerous features,” Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte told the French national assembly. His was one of many leftwing votes against the bill, aligning himself with the European Commission’s “gradual access” to social media.
