French MPs back plan to ban under-15s from social media
The bill also outlines rules for lycées – but may be rejected due to potential clash with EU regulations
France is aiming to tighten rules on under-15 social media and phone use
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French MPs have backed a law that would ban under-15s from using social media, in a move that President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed as a “major step”.
The Assemblée Nationale voted in favour of the bill overnight on January 26-27, by 116 votes to 23.
The first part of the text states that “access to online social networking services provided by online platforms is prohibited for minors under the age of 15”.
Some apps, including educational platforms and certain private messaging services, such as WhatsApp, will still be permitted for use by under 15s.
An amendment to the bill also adds that social media platforms must not expose minors to “excessive commercial pressure” or “promote products or services that may affect the physical or mental health of minors”.
The bill’s overall stated aim is to “protect teenagers’ health”.
Phone use in lycées
The second part of the text initially proposed a ban on mobile phones in lycées (high schools) from September 1, 2026 (this rule is already in place in primary schools and collèges, middle schools).
However, MPs rewrote the text to change it from an outright ban on mobile phones, and instead states that lycées must clearly outline “the places and conditions of use” of mobile phones, as well as:
Banning mobile phone use during lessons
Banning mobile phone use in corridors, but allowing them “in a designated area outdoors”.
Fast-track timetable
“The text will be quickly added to the Senate's government agenda…in the coming weeks”, said Anne Le Hénanff, Digital Affairs Minister – reported FranceInfo – while former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the measure was one of his “key priorities”, and that it would be discussed by mid-February.
This fast-tracking of the bill is because MPs want the rules to come into force by the start of the school year in September 2026, with social media platforms in France requiring age verification for all users by January 2027.
European compliance conflict?
The bill is likely to pass after discussion in the Senate.
However, the bill’s rapporteur Laure Miller said that she believes the text’s stipulations on “excessive commercial pressure” could make it harder to pass, because these statements “do not comply with European Union law” and risk the text “being rejected by the European Commission”, she said.
This has been a problem before; a previous law (dubbed the ‘Marcangeli law’) voted through by MPs in France in 2023, which would have introduced a ‘digital majority’ at age 15, was unable to be enforced because it did not comply with the European Digital Services Act (DSA).
The DSA is a 2024 European Union regulation that aims to manage online adverts and commercial content in the online environment. The Marcangeli law was unable to be enforced because it would have introduced stricter controls in France than those outlined in the European-wide DSA.
MPs are now aiming to ensure that the new bill does not meet the same fate.
If it is passed and enforced, the bill would make France only the second country worldwide to impose such a law on young people’s social media use, after Australia banned social platforms for under-16s in December 2025.
