French Constitutional Council halts Macron's ban on social media for children

This spring, Emmanuel Macron gave an interview on French television where he explained why he wanted to ban social media for children under 15.

- Our children's brains, hearts and emotions should not be for sale or available to these platforms, whether they are American, Chinese or from any other country. It will be nice! the president said, pointing to research that suggests social media is harmful to children under 15.

But now, instead, Macron has been given the nod - by the French Constitutional Council. The 15-year limit goes against freedom of expression and communication, as well as the right to privacy, according to a judgment that came down on Friday.

The Constitutional Council believes that the law introduces an overly general prohibition, without clearly defining which functions are harmful to children and young teenagers. Is it the endless scrolling, addictive algorithms or something else?

Without a clearer demarcation, the ban risks becoming arbitrary and disproportionately striking against children's and young people's constitutional freedom of speech and communication, the judges say. For example, social networks that lack a built-in algorithm, such as Mastodon, could be affected.

The ID checks – which also affect adults – are also a problem. The Constitutional Council is critical of the fact that it is not made clear in what way they would take place and how the data may be used (including by the state). In addition to restricting freedom of expression, the law therefore also contravenes the right to privacy.

Emmanuel Macron has now tasked his government with working on the text of the law - but it is uncertain whether it will happen before next year's presidential election.

The Constitutional Council's objections are consistent with part of the European Commission's criticism of the law. In July, the Commission pointed out that parts of it are not compatible with the Digital Services Regulation, DSA.

Ursula von der Leyen has promised to come up with proposals for guidelines on age limits for the member states in the autumn.