French President Emmanuel Macron is pressing the European Commission to impose an EU-wide ban on social media for children under 15, after France failed to bring its own restrictions into force, his office said.
In a letter dated 29 August to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by Reuters and other media, Mr Macron said a bloc-wide measure had become urgent. France’s Constitutional Council rejected a national bill this summer, just weeks before it was due to take effect in September.
- Advertisement -
“I believe it has now become essential to go further and, through a new European legislative text, harmonise a ban on access to social media platforms for children under the age of 15, in order to protect all children across the Union,” Mr Macron wrote.
Australia’s landmark decision last year to restrict children’s access to social media has prompted several European countries to consider similar measures, as concerns mount over the platforms’ effects on young people’s mental health and safety.
Earlier this year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was examining the possibility of introducing a comparable ban in Ireland, although he said he would prefer the measure to be adopted at EU level.
With his final year in office approaching, Mr Macron has made the issue a priority ahead of France’s next presidential election in 2027 and has been urging other EU governments to support tighter controls.
France will separately revise the legislation rejected by the Constitutional Council, Mr Macron said. However, political divisions in parliament and challenging budget negotiations could make it harder to secure approval for a replacement law.
Ms von der Leyen said in July that the EU would take steps to restrict young children’s access to social media across the 27-member bloc, referring to proposals from two experts that recommended a tiered system.
Under that model, children under 13 would receive only limited and supervised access, while the restrictions would be eased progressively as they grew older.
Mr Macron is calling for a more stringent policy: a blanket ban on social media access until the age of 15. His appeal comes ahead of Ms von der Leyen’s ‘State of the Union’ address to the EU parliament later this month.
