French lawmakers have passed a bill banning social media use by under-15s, a measure championed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to protect children from excessive screen time.
The lower house, the National Assembly, adopted the text by 130 votes to 21 during a long late-night session from Monday to Tuesday.
It will now go to the Senate, France’s upper house, before becoming law.
Macron called the vote on X an “important step” to protect French children and teenagers.
The legislation, which also includes a ban on mobile phones in secondary schools, would make France the second country to take such a step, following Australia’s ban on under-16s in December.
Children’s emotions ‘not for sale’
As social media has grown, so have concerns that too much screen time and addictive algorithms are harming children’s development and contributing to mental health problems.
“The emotions of our children and teenagers cannot be bought or manipulated, neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms,” Macron said in a video broadcast on Saturday.
The authorities want the measures to take effect for new accounts from the start of the 2026 school year, in September.
Enforcement lies with the EU
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who leads Macron’s Renaissance Party in the lower house, said he hoped the Senate would approve the bill by mid-February so the ban could come into effect on September 1.
He added that “social media platforms will then have until December 31 to deactivate existing accounts” that do not meet the age limit.
While backing France’s right to impose such a ban, the European Commission said Tuesday that any enforcement rests with the EU, provided the bill complies with the bloc’s laws.
Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters that it is ultimately up to the EU to ensure that platforms implement adequate age verification tools to make any eventual ban a reality.
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