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France Bans Social Media for Under-15s
🇩🇪 Germany /Culture & Society

France Bans Social Media for Under-15s

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • France has passed a law banning social media accounts for children under 15, making it the first EU country to implement such a measure.
  • The law, approved by both the Senate and National Assembly, is set to take effect after the summer holidays, likely by September 1.
  • While new accounts will be prohibited from September 1, existing accounts for under-15s will have a four-month transition period before being closed by the year's end.

France is set to become the first European Union member state to ban social media access for children under the age of 15. The groundbreaking legislation, which received broad support in both the French Senate and National Assembly, aims to protect young users from the potential harms of social media platforms.

The law, strongly advocated for by President Emmanuel Macron towards the end of his term, is slated to take effect after the summer break, with an anticipated start date of September 1. However, the implementation timeline could be subject to delays pending a constitutional review of the legislation.

Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban, with the National Assembly approving it by a margin of 279 to 81, and the Senate by 243 to two. The new rules will prohibit the creation of new social media accounts for individuals under 15 starting September 1. For those already possessing accounts, a grace period of four months will be granted, during which existing accounts will be closed by the end of the year.

we will close the already existing accounts of under 15-year-olds

— Emmanuel MacronExplaining the transition period for existing social media accounts of minors.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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