France Weighs Barring Social Media Use for Children Under Fifteen

(MENAFN) France plans to review a new bill in January that would bar social media use for children under 15 and restrict cellphone access in high schools, media reported Wednesday.

The French Council of State is set to examine the legislation on Jan. 8. If approved, it would prohibit young people under 15 from accessing social media and enforce a cellphone ban in high schools starting with the 2026-2027 academic year.

Government sources said the draft has been designed to align with European law, avoiding the legal shortcomings that hindered an earlier attempt.

In November, President Emmanuel Macron stated he wanted “to extend the ban on cellphone use to high schools from the start of the 2026-2027 school year and to impose a social media ban for young people under 15 or 16.”

Cellphone restrictions have already applied from nursery through middle school under a 2018 law, though enforcement has sometimes been challenging.

Multiple academic studies have highlighted the mental health risks linked to social media for young people, as well as the distractions caused by cellphone use among teenagers.

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