{"id":45203,"date":"2026-08-14T21:31:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45203"},"modified":"2026-08-14T21:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:31:39","slug":"frances-social-media-ban-for-children-under-15-struck-down-by-top-constitutional-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45203","title":{"rendered":"France&#8217;s social media ban for children under 15 struck down by top constitutional authority"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>France&#8217;s top constitutional authority on Friday struck down a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/france-social-media-ban-under-15s-first-in-eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">ban on social media access<\/a> for children under 15, dealing a blow to the legislation championed by President Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Council found that Article 1 of the legislation &#8220;constitutes an infringement that is neither appropriate, necessary, nor proportionate&#8221; to the freedom of expression and communication of those under 15.<\/p>\n<p>In its ruling, the Constitutional Council also expressed concern about the potential impact on privacy of introducing an age-verification system for all users.<\/p>\n<p>The law, which was due to take effect on Sept. 1, would have barred younger users from social networks such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, among other restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>The French government had promoted the ban as a way to better protect young people from the harmful effects associated with social media platforms, including anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and online harassment.<\/p>\n<p>Macron had in July thanked members of Parliament for backing the legislation and pledged to enforce it by September.<\/p>\n<p>After the ruling, the Elysee Palace said Macron had tasked Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/france-macron-reappoints-sebastien-lecornu-prime-minister\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Sebastien Lecornu<\/a> with working on a new &#8220;legally robust draft&#8221; of the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Lecornu will have to work &#8220;as quickly as possible&#8221; on a draft that takes into account both the Constitutional Council&#8217;s ruling and the European regulatory framework, the palace said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/14\/a19d1a73-68eb-4bd6-8fd6-dfebe6fd1484\/thumbnail\/620x413\/48d095317ddc6690cd15a604205ed535\/gettyimages-2271833755.jpg#\" alt=\"Three teenage boys look at their smartphone screens in the village of St. Jean d'Aulps, France, on April 11, 2026. \" height=\"413\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/14\/a19d1a73-68eb-4bd6-8fd6-dfebe6fd1484\/thumbnail\/620x413\/48d095317ddc6690cd15a604205ed535\/gettyimages-2271833755.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/14\/a19d1a73-68eb-4bd6-8fd6-dfebe6fd1484\/thumbnail\/1240x826\/5342ce335d9eaa7311256098e9cd61de\/gettyimages-2271833755.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Three teenage boys look at their phones in St. Jean d&#8217;Aulps, France, on April 11, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Matt Cardy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The presidency said Macron&#8217;s determination to see the reform implemented remained undiminished.<\/p>\n<p>Macron has made online child safety a defining issue of the final years of his presidency, and a new ban could be one of the last major domestic reforms he ushers through. Macron will mark a decade in office next year, and he cannot run again in April&#8217;s national election as, like the U.S., France has a two consecutive term limit for its presidents.<\/p>\n<p>Following Friday&#8217;s ruling, Macron&#8217;s former prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who backed the proposal, expressed his disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We take note of it and respect this decision, which applies to everyone,&#8221; he said on social media, vowing to continue fighting against what he described as &#8220;a deadly poison for our children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Council did not rule on a separate provision banning mobile phone use in high schools starting Sept. 1. Students are already prohibited from having phones in French elementary and middle schools.<\/p>\n<p>A growing number of countries are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/australia-social-media-ban-kids-teens\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">taking<\/a> <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/uk-social-media-ban-under-16-children-starmer-announcement\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">steps<\/a><\/span> to restrict social media access amid increasing warnings over its harmful effects on children.<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n        <\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France&#8217;s top constitutional authority on Friday struck down a ban on social media access for children under 15, dealing a blow to the legislation championed by President Emmanuel Macron. The Constitutional Council found that Article 1 of the legislation &#8220;constitutes an infringement that is neither appropriate, necessary, nor proportionate&#8221; to the freedom of expression and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/08\/14\/a19d1a73-68eb-4bd6-8fd6-dfebe6fd1484\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/337bb3cd0857a6094355af0f7f50d7ee\/gettyimages-2271833755.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}