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3mo ago

Macron Threatens Social Media Ban for Under-15s If EU Fails to Act

He has urged Brussels to agree on EU-wide age checks in the coming months ahead of a unilateral French ban.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he will ban social media for children younger than 15 if it is not implemented at the European level. Photo by Laurent Cipriani/EPA-EFE
France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
France has in recent years seen several attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren
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Overview

  • Macron has given Brussels a few months to back an EU-wide ban or France will enforce its own restriction on social media use for under-15s.
  • The pledge came after a 14-year-old fatally stabbed a school aide in Nogent, an incident Macron linked to rising youth violence and unsupervised online access.
  • Digital Minister Clara Chappaz’s office is considering classifying platforms like X, Bluesky and Reddit as pornographic services, forcing them to adopt stringent age verification or face fines.
  • Prime Minister François Bayrou announced decrees to ban knife sales to minors and pilot security gates at schools as part of a broader youth safety push.
  • The European Commission confirmed that setting minimum user ages is the prerogative of member states while it readies EU guidelines and an age-verification app trial.