France's Macron vows to speed up social media ban for under-15s

"French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday vowed to speed up the legislative process for a social media ban on under-15s, with the goal of enacting it in September this year. "I have asked the government to activate the accelerated procedure so it can go as quickly as possible," he said in a self-recorded video broadcast on BFM Television. He said he wanted it to be "applied from the start of the next school year", in September."

"READ ALSO: French government wants to ban social media for under-15s from 2026 French lawmakers have been debating the bill for such a ban, following in the footsteps of Australia, which last month became the first country to prohibit children under the age of 16 using such popular -- and addictive -- platforms as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube."

""The brains of our children and our adolescents are not for sale or for manipulating, not by US platforms, not by Chinese algorithms," the president said."

France plans to fast-track a law banning social media access for children under 15, with the goal of implementing it at the start of the next school year in September. The president requested an accelerated parliamentary procedure and a draft bill is to be submitted to parliament on Monday. The proposal follows Australia’s move to prohibit under-16s from major platforms and targets apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The president also supports banning pupils from carrying mobile phones in schools, arguing that children’s minds must not be commodified or manipulated by foreign platforms or algorithms.

Read at The Local France