French President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to accelerate legislation to ban children under the age of 15 from using social media, with the aim of bringing the measure into force by the start of the new school year in September.
In a video released on Saturday by French broadcaster BFM-TV, Mr Macron said he had asked his government to trigger an expedited parliamentary process so the bill could be passed by the Senate in time.
“The brains of our children and our teenagers are not for sale,” he said. “The emotions of our children and our teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated – neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms.”
His comments come days after the UK government said it was considering restricting access to social media for younger teenagers as part of plans to strengthen protections against harmful content and excessive screen time.
France’s health watchdog, ANSES, has warned about the scale of smartphone use among young people. It says one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on their phone. A report published in December found that nearly 90% of 12- to 17-year-olds use a smartphone daily to access the internet, with 58% using it for social networking.
The agency highlighted links between heavy social media use and a range of negative effects, including lower self-esteem and greater exposure to content linked to risky behaviour such as self-harm, drug use and suicide. Several French families have filed legal complaints against TikTok following teenage suicides they believe were connected to harmful online content.
“We’re banning social networks for under-15s and we’re going to ban mobile phones in our high schools,” Mr Macron said. “This is a clear rule – for teenagers, for families and for teachers.”
Referring to the bill due to be debated in a public session on Monday, he said it would focus on a straightforward ban on social media for under-15s, alongside restrictions on mobile phone use in high schools.
Other countries are already taking similar steps. In Australia, social media companies have removed access to around 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children since a ban on under-16s came into effect.
The Australian law has triggered intense debate over technology, privacy, child safety and mental health, and has prompted governments elsewhere to consider comparable measures.
