Legislation restricting access to social media accounts for children under 15 in France passed both houses of Parliament on July 21. The Constitutional Council must review the law before it can enter into force.
The legislation aims to prevent children under 15 from creating new accounts after September 1, 2026. The process of closing existing accounts is also scheduled to be completed by January 1, 2027.
Restrictions expand across Europe
In addition to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X and Reddit, social networking features built into gaming services are also expected to fall within the scope of the legislation. Educational services and scientific reference resources are exempt.
Rather than listing the platforms covered individually, the law refers to the general definition set out in Article 6 of the 2004 law. This approach leaves open the question of how hybrid services with social features integrated into other products will be categorized.
France plans to extend its existing ban on mobile phones in primary and middle schools to high schools starting with the 2026-2027 academic year. A 2024 survey found that 73 percent of people in France supported banning social media for children under 15.
No method specified for age verification
The initial draft submitted by lawmaker Laure Miller in November 2025 required platforms to use verification methods complying with technical guidelines to be established by the regulator Arcom. The same text included fines of up to 3 percent of platforms’ global revenue for noncompliance and proposed compiling a list of platforms deemed harmful to children.
The initial draft also planned to cut off access to platforms for all users under 18 between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. In its reasoned opinion dated July 6, the European Commission did not directly oppose the age limit of 15 or the requirement for age verification. The Commission’s criticism focused on ensuring that the national oversight system was consistent with the coordinated supervision framework under the Digital Services Act.
Following the legislative negotiations, the platform list was dropped and provisions granting Arcom supervisory powers were removed from the text. In its final form, the legislation states that people under 15 may not hold accounts; however, it contains no provision specifying which technical method platforms must use to verify users’ ages or how they should identify and suspend existing accounts.
The fact that most major platforms operating in France are based in other European Union countries has also reopened debate over the country-of-origin principle. Anne Le Henanff, the minister responsible for digital affairs, argued that age verification tools already exist and are effective. Enforcement mechanisms under the Digital Services Act will be important in implementing the legislation.
Australia’s experience at the center of France’s debate
Before Australia’s social media ban came into force, approximately 86 percent of children used at least one restricted platform. Three months after implementation, the figure remained above 81 percent. Daily use fell from 60 percent to 58 percent, while account ownership declined from 52.4 percent to 42.1 percent.
Half of the children said the platforms had not asked them to verify their age, while 7.4 percent said they had used a virtual private network. Despite Australia having a regulator and a maximum fine of 49.5 million Australian dollars, the failure to identify and close a significant share of existing accounts became one of the main issues in the debate over implementation in France.
European countries set different age limits
Denmark has put forward an age limit of 15, Greece plans to introduce a limit of 15 starting in 2027, Austria has considered 14, and Spain and Slovenia have considered 16. Work in these countries is progressing alongside the results from Australia and the European Commission’s preparations for age verification infrastructure.
Turkey has also taken a similar step through legislation approved by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 22, 2026, with the sanctions defined from the outset. Until the age verification infrastructure that the European Commission aims to roll out widely by the end of 2026 becomes operational, uncertainty remains over the extent to which France’s ban can be enforced.
