France: children’s social media ban unconstitutional

France’s Constitutional Council has stopped the Act intended to protect minors from the risks posed by the use of social media. The Council says that Article 1, establishing a social media ban for children under 15, is unconstitutional.

The ban was designed to apply to all social media platforms and all minors. The Court now says that for the ban to comply with the Constitution, it would need to account for the features and risks unique to the rights to respect for private life and freedom of expression.

President Emmanuel Macron has tasked his government with drafting a new bill before the end of his term (scheduled for May 2027), le Monde reports. The ban, preventing under-15s from creating new accounts, was due to apply from 1 September. France is one of the many countries worldwide considering such measures.

See:

• Le Monde - French government's social media ban for under-15s suffers constitutional setback

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