After Australia, France plans to ban children under 15 from social media

France is preparing to tighten rules on children’s use of technology with plans to keep those under the age of 15 off social media. It also aims to ban mobile phones in high schools starting from September 2026.

According to French media reports, the proposed measures show growing concern in the country about the effect of online platforms on young people.

President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly linked social media to rising violence among youth and has suggested France should take inspiration from Australia, which introduced a landmark ban on social media use for children under 16 in December.

That restriction applies to major platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.

According to the newspaper Le Monde, Macron may unveil the new proposals during his televised New Year’s Eve address, scheduled for 1900 GMT. The report said that the government plans to send draft legislation for legal review in early January. Similar details were also reported by France Info.

Neither the Elysee Palace nor the prime minister’s office immediately commented on the reports.

France already bars mobile phones in primary and middle schools, a rule that has been in place since 2018. If approved, the new plan would extend the ban to high schools, affecting older students. In the French education system, children between the ages of 11 and 15 attend middle school.

In 2023, France passed legislation requiring social media companies to obtain parental approval before allowing children under 15 to open accounts