The measure has a chance of being approved, as it has the support of Macron’s coalition and the extreme right, as well as the conservative right, while the left-wing França Insubmissa classifies it as “digital paternalism”.
French President Emmanuel Macron asked the government on Saturday night to ensure that the ban on social media for under-15s comes into force in September, at the start of the school year.
In a video released by French broadcaster BFM-TV, Macron said he had asked for an urgent procedure to begin so that the proposed law could be approved by the lower house and the Senate as quickly as possible.
“The brains of our children and our teenagers are not for sale,” said Macron, quoted by the North American news agency The Associated Press (AP). “The emotions of our children and teenagers are not for sale nor can they be manipulated. Neither by North American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms,” he added.
The proposal is expected to be debated on Monday in the National Assembly, given the urgent procedure requested by Macron from the Government, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
Representative Laure Miller, from Macron’s Renaissance party, is in charge of presenting the lawwith just two articles, in the Chamber of Deputies.
“We are looking for a clear rule for our teenagers, families and teachers,” said Macron in the video he recorded with a cell phone at the Elysee Palace.
Macron made this measure one of his key proposals in a mandate blocked by the lack of a majority in the National Assembly and hopes to obtain consensus from various political groups.
The Government sent a bill to the State Council at the beginning of the year and subsequently approved it in the Council of Ministers.
In the final version, the project clarifies that the executive will be the one to determine, by decree, the networks considered dangerous for minors, based on reports from the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (ARCOM), an independent control body.
The measure has a chance of being approved, as it has the support of Macron’s coalition and the extreme right, as well as the conservative right, while the left-wing França Insubmissa classifies it as “digital paternalism”.
The law must comply with the European Union’s digital services regulation, so as not to suffer the same fate as that of 2023, which was not applied because it did not respect European provisions.
Macron’s announcement comes few days after the British government admitted considering banning social networks for young teenagersas part of a tightening of protection laws against harmful content and excessive screen time.
According to the French health regulator, one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on a ‘smartphone’.
A report published in December revealed that around 90% of young people aged between 12 and 17 use mobile phones daily, with 58% specifically accessing social networks.
The document’s authors warned of several harmful effects, including reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to risky behaviors, such as self-harm and drug use.
In France, several families sued the TikTok platform for teenage suicides that they claim were linked to harmful content.
“We are banning social media for children under 15 and we are going to ban cell phones in our secondary schools”, reinforced Macron.
The French measure follows the example of Australia, where social media companies have already revoked access to around 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.
The measure was taken after the country banned the use of platforms by children under 16 years of age.
