France bans social media for children under 15, UK plans similar curbs

French lawmakers have approved a ban on social media for children under the age of 15 as concerns grow around the world over the impact social media has on the health and safety of minors.

France becomes the first nation in Europe to follow Australia, where the world's first ban for under-16s on platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube came into force in December.

"France opens the way by being the first country in Europe to adopt a digital majority," Ms Anne Le Hénanff, junior minister for AI, said.

Both houses of parliament, the Senate and National Assembly, approved the ban.

President Emmanuel Macron, who in April urged young people to switch off their phones and read to become better citizens, wants the law in place for the start of the next academic year.

With the new legislation, children younger than 15 would not be allowed to open a social media account from September 1.

Social media platforms would have another four months to close accounts already open. The platforms would also need to use age verification approved by the French privacy regulator.

Social media platforms generally oppose blanket bans and stress they already have measures to protect younger users, including age restrictions.

But they have also pledged to comply when governments enact bans.

The European Commission is working on its own regulations to rein in social media across Europe to protect young people, and it will have a say on whether France's bill respects existing European legislation.

"We left you in this jungle and it robbed you of your attention," Mr Macron told teenagers at an event in April, speaking of the lack of rules on social media.

"That's why what we want to do is say that, before 15 years old, no more social media."

UK moves ahead with ban, app curfew

As the UK moves ahead with its own plan to introduce a sweeping ban on social media for people under 16, the government has also announced a default overnight curfew for people aged 16 and 17.

Affected users would be blocked from using the apps between midnight and 6am, unless they change the default setting.

Features designed to keep users scrolling would also be switched off by default.

The curbs underline global concerns among parents and policymakers about safeguarding young people from the harmful effects of social media on their mental and physical health.

"These measures will be crucial in helping young people get the sleep they need, focus on school and college and spend more quality time with family and friends," technology minister Liz Kendall said.

Online safety minister Kanishka Narayan said tech companies would be legally required to implement the curfew.

He said the companies had to do more robust age checks and those that did not would face "very severe regulatory sanction".

Instagram owner Meta, TikTok parent ByteDance and Google, which owns YouTube, did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment on the curbs.

Opposition Conservative Party education policy chief Laura Trott called the plans a mess.

"Either they think 16 and 17-year-olds should be on social media or they don't, but curfews they can simply switch off won't achieve anything," she said.

The first set of regulations on social media restrictions will be laid before parliament by the end of this year, with measures expected to come into force in spring 2027, the government said.

A team that advised Australia found online platforms were stumbling at the very first step of implementing age-verification checks, rendering the ban ineffective.

Google and TikTok have in the past month separately settled a US lawsuit brought by a minor who claimed that social media platforms damaged his mental health.