Submission statement: the French government has drafted a two-part bill aiming to regulate screen use for children: the first article would ban children under 15 from having access to social media, and the second would ban the use of mobile phones in lycées (high school between the ages of 15 to 18), will submit it to the Council of State for legal review next week and to Parliament in January, to be possibly enforced as soon as September 2026.
The bill is the latest in a series of regulations on social media and screen use for children spearheaded by Emmanuel Macron's governments and with large support within the opposition parties and public opinion; in 2018, the government banned mobile phone use in schools below the age of 15, while in 2024-25, the government imposed an age verification scheme on several pornographic websites, leading to their parent companies blocking access in France in protest.
Debates around the regulation of Internet access have been renewed with the rise of social media, touching on sensitive and polarizing topics around individual freedoms, government infringement on personal spaces, surveillance, children's development, bullying, mental health and social alienation.
Australia was the first country in the world to pass and enforce a ban on social media access for a whole age bracket, but restrictions on Internet access for children have been passed or are being debated in most Western democracies.
Posted by RaidBrimnes
2 Comments
!ping FRANCE I’m expecting the bill to pass since there’s broad support for it, but enforcement is going to be a nightmare. From my acquaintances/relatives working with collégiens, it’s already mayhem there
Lord, I see what you do for others what I wish you would do for me.