A “major victory for our fundamental freedoms”. Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not shy away from his pleasure this Saturday, August 15, the day after the decision of the Constitutional Council. To everyone's surprise, the institution agreed with the deputies of France Insoumise by censoring the ban on social networks for under 15s.
The Council thus decided that this measure was a “disproportionate attack on freedom of expression”. An analysis welcomed, unsurprisingly, by elected socialists and rebels alike, behind the referrals filed at the end of July. “The Constitutional Council agrees with us by censoring the law aimed at general control of identity on the Internet under the pretext of the utopian control of those under 15,” the LFI leader wrote on X.
Before him, many political figures have spoken on the subject. “The judges followed us. Presidential obstinacy was a bad advisor,” rejoiced the socialist Arthur Delaporte, one of the deputies who signed this appeal.
Several rebellious elected officials also savored their victory. “Once again, LFI was right: this law is an attack on fundamental freedoms. As a reminder, LFI is the ONLY group in the Assembly to have voted against,” criticized Antoine Léaument, on X.
Gabrielle Cathala, LFI MP for Val-d’Oise, sees this decision as a “total snub for Emmanuel Macron, Gabriel Attal and Sébastien Lecornu”. Same story for Louis Boyard, who judges this day as a “moment of truth”:
“If the desire to act for the mental health of young people was sincere, then the Minister of National Education and parliamentarians would see no problem in working on a real national plan for the mental health of young people,” he quips.
On the other side of the political spectrum, several voices also welcomed the decision of the Sages. “What a humiliation for Emmanuel Macron and almost the entire political class who let this law pass, including the RN,” criticized the former candidate for Paris mayor, Sarah Knafo.
Senator Nathalie Goulet, for her part, denounced an “ineffective and liberticidal” text. Nicolas Dupont Aignan also celebrates a victory and says he is worried about “Macronist interference in the presidential election which restricts the free expression and free information of the French”.
The intact “determination” of the head of state
However, the promoters of this text do not admit defeat. A press release from the Élysée ensures that “the determination” of the Head of State to bring this reform to fruition “by spring 2027 remains total”.
The Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, will have to work “as soon as possible” on a draft “taking into account the decision of the Constitutional Council as well as the European framework”, explained the Élysée.
For its part, the presidential bloc is absorbing the blow without losing hope. “We have nine wise men, as we call them, who are on average over 70 years old and who made a decision, I think, without really knowing the mechanisms of these social networks. There is no attack on freedom of expression when we are on predatory platforms, which, for reasons of profit [...] aim to use the vulnerabilities of children to earn more money and to capture more of their attention,” lamented MP (EPR) Laure Miller, behind the bill.
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal affirms that work will continue to protect young people against “what promises to be the epidemic of the century: the addiction of the youngest to social networks”.
