French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a media conference at the European Union Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 19, 2025. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP Photo
The French government plans to ban children under the age of 15 from social media platforms and to prohibit cellphones in high schools from September, following similar restrictions in other countries amid growing concern over online harms to young people.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has frequently cited social media as one of the factors responsible for violence among young people and has indicated his intention to mirror Australia’s world-first ban for under-16s on social media platforms.
