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Parliament made a sweeping vote for the social media ban on Tuesday, July 21
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A bill has been passed in France banning children under 15 from using social media
The ban will start on Sept. 1, blocking minors from creating new social media accounts
The ban follows rising concerns over social media’s impact on mental health and lawsuits linking its use to teen suicides
France has become the first country in the European Union to ban social media use for children.
On Tuesday, July 21, Parliament adopted a bill banning social media for kids under 15 years old, following concerns about the risks of exposure to minors and increasing suicides among young people linked to social media use, France’s National Assembly announced in a new report.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “committed” to passing the bill when sharing his reaction to the ban on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the parliamentarians,” Macron, 48, wrote on X. “It’s up to the Constitutional Council to rule, then on to action to make this measure concrete and protect our children.” He added that the bill was “a major step forward” in an accompanying video, per The Guardian.
A total of 279 members of Parliament voted to pass the bill, while 81 voted against the ban.
The ban will be introduced at the start of the school year on Sept. 1, blocking children under 15 from creating new accounts. The second stage of the ban will start in January 2027 as young people with existing accounts will have to prove they are older than 15 to use them, per the BBC.
France’s new ban against minors using social media comes as several families in the country have sued TikTok, alleging that the app has caused a rise in teenage suicides, the Associated Press reported.
Gaëlle Berbonde from Paris said she started campaigning against social media use among minors after her 16-year-old daughter developed anorexia and depression while using the app.
“We’ve been campaigning for this bill from the start because, frankly, we have no other option, no other way to counter tech giants,” she told AP. “The only thing we can do is protect our children, just as we protect our children from drinking alcohol.”
France is the second country to introduce a social media ban following Australia, which introduced limits for kids under the age of 16 in December 2025.
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In June, however, the University of Newcastle in New South Wales revealed in a report that more than 85% of young teenagers were still using social media months after the ban was implemented.
“The question isn’t whether there are good or bad social networks. Frequent use of social networks … isn’t beneficial for our children’s development,” said French Parliament member Joël Bruneau. “It’s therefore quite legitimate that all social networks, whatever their nature, should be subject to the same regulations, even if some find it harder to comply than others.”
Read the original article on People
