Macron plans social media ban for under-15s in France if EU fails to act
PARIS, France, June 11: French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday that if the European Union does not make progress soon, France will ban social media use for children under 15 within the coming months. Speaking after a fatal stabbing of a teaching assistant at a high school in Nogent, Haute-Marne, Macron emphasized the urgency of acting faster than the broader EU efforts led by Greece, France, and Spain to limit teenagers' online screen time.
Macron also revealed plans to introduce strict age verification on websites selling knives, similar to existing controls on adult content sites. He stated that minors under 15 will no longer be able to purchase knives online, with heavy financial penalties and bans for violations. Earlier, Prime Minister François Bayrou had called for an immediate ban on all knife sales to minors.
Later that evening, Macron posted on the social media platform X: 'I'm banning social media for children under 15. Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let's do it.' French authorities are already pushing certain social media platforms, including X, Reddit, Bluesky, and Mastodon, to implement age verification by reclassifying them alongside pornographic sites. This follows recent legislation requiring adult sites to verify users' ages, which led Pornhub to cease operations in France and caused a surge in VPN usage to bypass restrictions.
The president linked social media use to the rise in youth violence, referring to the stabbing incident where a 14-year-old student was questioned after fatally attacking a 31-year-old school aide during a weapons search. Prime Minister Bayrou highlighted that such violent episodes are part of a worrying trend, not isolated cases.
Macron's stance aligns with global movements to restrict minors' access to social media. For instance, Australia implemented a ban on social media for those under 16 last year, setting a strong precedent in regulating Big Tech. Macron expressed hope for EU-wide action soon but affirmed France's readiness to proceed independently if necessary, underlining, 'We cannot wait.'
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