{"id":666199,"date":"2026-01-01T05:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T05:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/666199\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T05:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T05:34:14","slug":"france-planning-to-ban-children-under-15-from-social-media-starting-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/666199\/","title":{"rendered":"France planning to ban children under 15 from social media starting 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

France is planning to ban children under 15 from social media and to restrict cellphone use in high schools starting next year,\u00a0local media Le Monde<\/a> reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The proposal aims to curb excessive screen time and shield minors from online risks such as inappropriate content. President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> has repeatedly cited social media as a contributing factor to violence among young people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Many studies and reports now confirm the various risks caused by excessive use of digital screens by adolescents,” a draft law stated, according to Le Monde.<\/p>\n

The document added that children with unrestrained access online have been exposed to “inappropriate content” and could suffer from cyber-harassment or experience changes to their sleep patterns, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n

AFTER AUSTRALIA PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN, LAWMAKERS PROBED ON WHY CONGRESS HASN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT KIDS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"President <\/p>\n

President Emmanuel Macron is planning to ban social media use among children under 15 years old. (TERESA SUAREZ\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The proposal follows Australia\u2019s lead after the country introduced a world-first ban on social media for children under 16 years old in December, restricting access to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.<\/p>\n

Macron is aiming for Parliament to debate the proposal in January, with a potential start date of September next year, according to the local outlet.<\/p>\n

In June, Macron said he wanted to push for similar regulations across the European Union (EU), following a fatal school stabbing in eastern France<\/a> that shocked the nation in April, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

TEXAS FAMILY SUES CHARACTER.AI AFTER CHATBOT ALLEGEDLY ENCOURAGED AUTISTIC SON TO HARM PARENTS AND HIMSELF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Distressed <\/p>\n

A 13-year-old girl is using her smartphone in a dark room. (iStock)<\/p>\n

Macron has previously taken numerous steps to protect minors digitally. However, technical challenges, including EU legal constraints<\/a> and weak enforcement, have limited the effectiveness of such measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cellphones have already been banned in French elementary and middle schools since 2018, according to Le Monde.<\/p>\n

\"Australian <\/p>\n

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese enacted a world-first social media ban in December, barring children under 16 from using major platforms. (Brent Lewin\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In 2023, France reportedly attempted to pass a law calling for a “digital legal age,” which required parental consent for social media users under 15 years old. The law, however, was blocked by EU regulations.<\/p>\n

In November, the European Parliament urged the EU to set minimum social media ages<\/a> to tackle adolescent mental health issues, though final decisions rest with its member states, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

Bonny Chu is a Digital Production Assistant at Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! France is planning to ban children under 15 from social…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,3171,2443,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-666199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-kids","12":"tag-regulation","13":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115818218703011959","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}