France sets under-15 social media ban with age checks

France's parliament approved a ban on social media for under-15s, phasing in mandatory age verification for all users by January 2027.

France's parliament has approved a law banning social media for children under 15, with the Senate and National Assembly both adopting it. Age verification will be required on all new accounts from September, when under-15s can no longer open accounts, and from January 2027 everyone in France must prove they are over 15 to use social media. Platforms must use age-verification tools approved by the French privacy regulator. President Emmanuel Macron, who had pledged the measure, welcomed it, and Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff said the verification tools already exist.

France is the first European country to block young people this way, following Australia, which banned under-16s in December. The UK has announced its own under-16 ban from January 2027, and the EU Commission proposed a 'social media delay' for children in May.

We track this as friction. The stated aim is protecting minors, but the mechanism gates a core channel of connection and, crucially, normalizes identity verification for everyone online — not just children. Universal age-proofing raises real privacy exposure and could push a share of internet access behind ID walls.

The effectiveness is unproven. Australia's eSafety Commission reported in March that seven in ten under-16s with prior accounts still had some access, and one researcher called that ban's technical aims a failure. Sceptics also warn the rules could drive youth to less-regulated spaces and cut their news consumption. Details are attributed to Reuters and AFP.

Source: BBC World