France moves to ban social media for under-15s nationwide

France's lower house approved legislation that would prohibit children under 15 from accessing social media and impose stricter limits on mobile phone use in schools, in a high-profile effort to curb online risks to young people. Lawmakers allied with President Emmanuel Macron presented the measure as a child protection policy, and the National Assembly voted to advance the text on Jan. 27.

The bill targets the widespread use of platforms by minors and seeks to extend classroom restrictions that have already been in place in some form. The new measure would make it illegal for under-15s to hold accounts on social networks, and would reinforce school rules limiting mobile phone possession and use during the school day. Backers argue the change is necessary to address concerns about mental health, online grooming, cyberbullying and the addictive qualities of social apps.

France is not starting from scratch: the government introduced a school phone ban in 2018 that prohibited mobile devices in primary and middle schools during instructional hours. The current proposal goes further by focusing on account access, raising practical questions about verification, enforcement and the role of parents and education authorities in policing young people's online lives.

Technical obstacles are immediate. Age checks on social platforms are uneven and can be circumvented by false birth dates, use of family accounts, virtual private networks and other privacy tools. Implementing an effective verification regime would require cooperation from international technology companies and potentially new verification technologies that raise privacy and civil liberties tradeoffs. Legal experts and digital rights advocates have noted the difficulty of balancing robust enforcement with safeguards against mass data collection and discrimination.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where amendments and detailed scrutiny are expected. If the two chambers disagree, a joint committee could be convened to reconcile differences. Final adoption will depend on negotiations and likely political concessions. Implementation will hinge on secondary regulations and enforcement protocols that specify how age limits are checked and what penalties, if any, will apply to platforms, parents or schools.

The political stakes are high. Supporters frame the measure as a response to scientific studies and clinical trends showing increases in anxiety, depression and sleep disruption linked to heavy social media use among adolescents. Opponents warn that a blanket prohibition could push young people to underground channels that are harder to monitor, and that it risks shifting responsibility entirely onto digital platforms and schools rather than addressing family and societal factors.

Education authorities will face operational burdens if the law becomes final. Schools must balance discipline and pedagogy while enforcing phone rules, and teachers could be asked to police behavior that many parents view as a household matter. The measure also raises equity concerns, since enforcement and access to substitute communication tools would likely vary across socio-economic contexts.

As debate shifts to the Senate and to implementation design, the outcome will test the French government's ability to marry child welfare goals with feasible technical rules and legal protections. Lawmakers will need to clarify enforcement mechanisms, privacy safeguards and educational supports if the law is to reduce harms without creating new problems.