Macron to Push Ban on Social Media for Under‑15s in France

_{Photo credit: FAMILY STOCK / Shutterstock.com}

Speaking after the fatal stabbing of a teaching assistant at a school in Nogent on June 10, 2025, President Emmanuel Macron announced a push to ban social media access for under‑15s in France within “the coming months” if there is inadequate action at an EU level.

Macron told the broadcaster France 2 that “we cannot wait” and warned that if no progress is made at the EU level, France will implement restrictions independently. Later on X, Macron wrote:

As recommended by the experts on the Screen Commission, I’m proposing a ban on social media for users under the age of 15. Platforms can verify age. Let’s do it.

In response to the Nogent school stabbing, Macron is also pushing to introduce age verification for online knife sales, with financial sanctions and bans for violators, mirroring recent controls on pornographic sites. 

France is already supporting its EU partner Greece, also backed by Spain, in campaigning to limit children’s social media use and establishing an EU “age of digital adulthood” that would require children to seek parental consent to use social media platforms.
 
This echoes developments in Australia, which is set to ban social media for under‑16s by December 2025.