Macron Urges Social Media Ban for Minors

(MENAFN) French Leader Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will implement restrictions preventing children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms "within a few months," unless the European Union takes unified measures.

His comments came in the wake of a tragic stabbing at a school that left one adult injured.

“We must ban social media for those under 15,” Macron emphasized during an interview with France 2 on Tuesday.

This statement followed an incident earlier in the day in Nogent, a town in eastern France, where a 14-year-old boy attacked a 31-year-old teaching assistant during a routine check for weapons in students’ bags.

The assailant proceeded to injure a law enforcement officer with the same blade and was subsequently taken into custody, as reported by the National Gendarmerie.

Macron gave a brief timeframe for European nations to act collectively. “I’m giving us a few months to get the European mobilization going. Otherwise... we’ll start doing it in France. We can’t wait,” he declared.

The French leader expressed urgency and dissatisfaction with the pace of international cooperation on the matter.

Authorities noted that the teenager involved was known to be respectful and had shown no previous behavioral problems.

He had even taken part in initiatives aimed at preventing bullying and came from a supportive household.

The victim, a mother of two, had only recently started working at the school in September.

Macron attributed the growing trend of youth violence, in part, to the influence of social media, asserting that this latest attack was not an isolated event.

He referred to a previous case in April, where a teenager in western France fatally stabbed a girl and injured three other students before being detained.

After his television appearance, Macron reiterated his stance on the platform X, citing support from specialists.

“Platforms have the ability to verify age. Do it,” he insisted, calling on tech companies to take responsibility for enforcing age-related access restrictions.

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