French Parliament approve bill banning social media access for children

France reached a consensus that the trade-off of online anonymity was an acceptable sacrifice in pursuit of a headline focused on child protection.

French MPs reached a consensus on a measure prohibiting children under 15 from accessing social media. The legislation establishes a legal obligation for all adults in France to verify their identities prior to posting on these platforms. This decision marks [1] the first instance of an EU country prohibiting children from accessing apps. Following the Senate's approval, the National Assembly approved the bill with a vote tally of 279 in favor and 81 against.

Emmanuel Macron [2] the French President, has advocated for the ban as a significant reform of his final term in office and has committed to its implementation by September. “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers. The Constitutional Council must now rule on it, and then it will be time to take action to make this measure a reality and protect our children online,” said Macron.

A commission composed of seven deputies and seven senators spent approximately two hours reconciling two distinct iterations of [3] a bill proposed by Renaissance deputy Laure Miller. The resulting text aligns closely with the version previously presented in the National Assembly. Emmanuel Macron has also gained support from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. An expert panel, established by von der Leyen, released [4] a report that advised limiting social media use to children aged 13 and older, and recommended parental supervision during this time. Following the report, von der Leyen committed to pursuing EU legislation to prohibit children under 13 from accessing social media, as well as other online platforms, such as chatbots and certain video game services.

The principles behind age restrictions remain consistent since their inception. Prohibiting access for 14 year old's necessitates screening all users, as platforms cannot determine an individual's age without verifying their identity. Age verification systems, regardless of terminology used, rely on identification documents or state-issued digital identities. Users may be required to upload a photo of their passport or log in via services such as France Connect. Facial age estimation, the alternative method under consideration, has demonstrated significant unreliability, as evidenced by [5] a study by Internet Matter on the Online Safety Act that revealed a drawn-on mustache can deceive the system.

Consequently, CNIL [6] a French data protection authority, has prohibited [7] the use of this technique in tobacco shops. “Indeed, as the ‘augmented’ camera only makes an estimate, compliance with their obligations still requires tobacconists to systematically ask their customers for proof of majority. As a result, the prior analysis of people's faces by a camera to estimate their age does not appear necessary: it would only be in addition to the control required by law. And, on the contrary, the use of this device could encourage tobacconists to rely solely on the result given by the machine, without further verification,” said the CNIL “Like any system of so-called ‘augmented’ cameras, these algorithmic age estimation devices inherently present risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, despite certain guarantees such as local data processing and rapid deletion of images.”

French officials are responding to the situation with the term “double-anonymat,” a concept that ministers and regulators have utilized since 2023. This arrangement allows a third party to verify a user’s identity and provide the platform with a signed token instead of the user’s name. In 2025, AI Forensics revealed that AgeGo, [8] a verification vendor serving multiple pornography websites, was capturing the complete URL of each video that users intended to view.Subsequently, the committee removed the protective measures from the legislation. Earlier drafts of the bill had required providers to implement technical solutions based on a standard established by Arcom following consultations with the CNIL. The revised bill also granted Arcom the authority to issue formal notices to companies that failed to comply.

France is preparing to implement age verification measures, although it has not clarified what constitutes age verification or established a regulatory body to oversee the companies responsible for managing potentially millions of identity documents. The law will become effective on September 1, granting accounts created before that date a four-month grace period. From that date, covered platforms are required to prevent users under the age of 15 from creating new accounts and must terminate existing accounts held by these users by January 1, 2027.

However, enforcement of such laws often presents challenges. In late 2025, Australia implemented [9] a ban on social media for individuals under 16, yet the country's regulator has recognized that approximately two-thirds of the teenagers affected have found ways to bypass this restriction. Anthony Albanese, [10] the Australian Prime Minister said in a statement, “I’m heartened by the shift in conversation and the global momentum we’ve seen since introducing the social media minimum age, but it’s clear big tech are not doing enough to comply with the law there are still too many children on social media.”

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