French lawmakers supported a ban on social media for children under 15

A global trend is gaining momentum to restrict children's access to social networks.

Australia was the first democratic country to ban popular platforms for persons under 16 years old, and recently the UK has begun the process of introducing this norm.

Now France has announced a similar decision as well.

What is known

At a National Assembly meeting, lawmakers voted to ban social media for children under 15 years. This decision was supported by 130 out of 151 deputies, and now this bill must be considered by the Senate.

The initiative provides for banning children and adolescents from accessing popular social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and Snapchat, as activists are increasingly concerned about the impact of continuous online content on children's mental health, contrary to companies' statements about the use of protective mechanisms.

The authors of the bill hope it will be adopted before the start of the next academic year. French President Emmanuel Macron fully supports this idea and believes that “children's brains are not for sale to either American platforms or Chinese social networks.”

Source: Bloomberg, @EmmanuelMacron