Australia on Wednesday became the first country to introduce a social media ban blocking children and teenagers under the age of 16 from most major social networks.
Digital giants including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok must now ban users in Australia who are under the age limit from their platforms.
The measure is a bid to protect minors from exposure to violent and sexual content, cyberbullying and screen addiction – and it could soon be replicated in France.
Read moreWhy is Australia banning children under 16 from social media – and can they enforce it?
MPs mostly from French President Emmanual Macron’s Ensemble pour la République (EPR) party put forward a bill on November 18 that would ban under-15s from most social media platforms.
The proposal, which also includes a digital curfew for 15- to 18-year-olds, will be debated by parliament on January 19, 2026.
Restricting access
The bill was put forward by MP Laure Miller and is supported by 121, mostly EPR, MPs.
It proposes a ban on all social media, except messaging services, for minors under the age of 15, with platforms required to verify users' ages and suspend accounts that do not comply.
A suggested digital curfew for older teens aged 15-18 would block access to social media from 10pm to 8am in a bid to promote healthy sleep patterns and curb addictive nighttime usage.
The bill also suggests increasing a ban on smartphones in schools, which is already in place for 11- to 15-year-olds in collège, French middle school.
The new law would extend the smartphone ban to 15- to 18-year-olds in lycée (French high school) and introduce a new crime of “digital negligence” under which parents could be punished as a last resort in extreme cases.
Dangerous content
The bill was inspired by the conclusions of a parliamentary inquiry into “the psychological effects of TikTok on minors”, set up in Spring 2025 to respond to growing concerns about the harmful effects of the video-sharing platform.
The inquiry’s conclusions, released in early September, raised the alarm over dangerous content shared on TikTok including videos inciting self-harm, suicide and eating disorders, all of which were visible to young users.
It highlighted techniques used to reinforce the addictive nature of the platform such as infinite scrolling and personalised recommendations.
The report also found a link between excessive use of the platform and mental health problems among users such as anxiety, trouble sleeping, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.
Read more'Downward spiral': French mother says social media drove her teen to commit suicide
‘Young people are addicted’
Disturbing videos are not the only kind of content available on social media, but proponents of France’s ban say that regulation is required as so much online content is unmoderated, and major social media platforms are guided by their commercial interests.
“There is an ocean of harmful content and a few small islands of positive content which are not promoted by the algorithm,” said Miller, rapporteur for the government inquiry.
“Social media apps are designed to hold young people’s attention and monetise it to generate advertising revenue,” said Floriane Didier, from Lève les Yeux (Look up), an association that helps parents and young people fight screen addiction. “Young people get locked in the algorithm.”
“The idea that a young person can use social media a reasonable amount is contradictory – it’s not possible,” added Miller. “Young people are addicted, just as we adults can be, but they are more vulnerable.”
Among the major social networks, “none could be described as ethical”, according to the conclusions of the government inquiry. “They all have the same objective, which they pursue with varying degrees of effectiveness and varying degrees of good faith in limiting their harmful impact on young people’s mental health.”
Protecting ‘vulnerable’ youth
It comes as little surprise that the social media giants themselves are against a total ban, arguing that stricter controls for young users of their platforms would be effective.
TikTok has suggested increasing the size of its French-speaking content moderation team, using AI tools to remove harmful content and putting time limits on usage.
The company could create a version of the app that is closer to its Chinese iteration, Douyin, which limits usage to 40 minutes per day for users aged 14-18.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is in favour of young users retaining access with parental consent.
A ban on social media usage for minors does raise questions over personal data. To comply with the law in Australia, users must provide a piece of identity or use facial recognition, which critics say is restrictive and intrusive.
It may also be tough for young people to give up the networks to which they have, until now, had free access. In France, children aged 6-17 spend an average of more than four hours per day on screens, according to a poll by study support app Gostudent.
However the majority are surprisingly receptive to the idea of strengthening the law. A recent survey from study support group Acadomia, found that 67 percent of young people thought it was justifiable to ban under-15s from social media.
“Young people, especially lycée students aged 15, 16, or 17, are clear-headed about their habits. They have the ability to take a step back. But this is not at all the case in collège,” said Miller.
“It's not about a blanket ban on social media, which would be repressive, but about protecting the most vulnerable among us,” she added.
This article was translated from the original in French by Joanna York.
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