France Bans Social Media for Under-15s

The French Parliament approved a bill on July 21, 2026, to ban social media access for children under 15, making France the first European Union nation to enforce such a restriction. The legislation, slated for a phased rollout starting September 1, 2026, prevents minors from creating new accounts and requires the deletion of existing under-15 profiles by January 1, 2027. This mandate, backed by President Emmanuel Macron to combat mental health decline, also extends a mobile phone ban to high schools and tasks the digital regulator ARCOM with enforcement.

The decisive 279 to 81 vote positions France as the first EU member state to implement a hard age gate on digital platforms. The law aims to combat the escalating mental health crisis tied to algorithmic addiction. Platforms must completely remove all existing profiles belonging to users under the age of 15 by January 1, 2027. The restrictions also expand an existing ban on mobile phones directly into high school classrooms.

President Emmanuel Macron heavily championed these restrictions, likening the new digital guardrails to long-standing laws preventing minors from purchasing alcohol. This push follows stark data from French health authorities indicating that 90 percent of children aged 12 to 17 use smartphones daily, with half of those teenagers logging between two and five hours of screen time each day. A significant portion of this screen time is dedicated to platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Regulators argue this relentless exposure directly correlates with rising rates of depression and anxiety among adolescents.