When will France's under-15 social media ban take effect?

New accounts will face age checks right away, and under-15s will be barred from creating accounts from September. The rule will extend to existing accounts in January 2027.

Who has to prove their age under the new French law?

Anyone who wants to use social media in France will have to prove they are over 15. Platforms must use age-verification tools approved by France’s privacy regulator.

Why are critics opposed to the ban?

Critics say the law raises privacy concerns, may be easy for young people to bypass, and was written and approved too quickly. They also question whether age-verification tools can work as intended.

Why does France think the ban can work better than Australia's?

A professor cited in the article said France may have a better chance because it requires age verification for everyone. He also warned that the approach could increase privacy risks and push teens toward less regulated online spaces.

France Social Media Ban Targets Under-15s

France social media ban will require age checks for all users by January 2027 after lawmakers approved a plan to block under-15s.

France social media ban legislation has cleared parliament, putting the country on track to bar children under 15 from social platforms starting in January 2027. The move makes France the first European country to adopt a nationwide restriction of this kind, and it will require age verification for everyone who wants to use social media in France.

French lawmakers in both the Senate and the National Assembly approved the measure on Tuesday, despite criticism from some on the left. Under the plan, people under 15 will not be able to create accounts from September, and age checks will apply to new accounts right away. In January 2027, the rule will extend to existing accounts, meaning all users in France will have to prove they are over 15 to stay on social media.

The French government says the system can be enforced with online tools that are both effective and safe. Social media platforms would need to use age-verification tools approved by France’s privacy regulator once the ban takes effect. President Emmanuel Macron has backed the measure and had promised to bring it forward as part of the close of his decade in office.

That support has not silenced doubts. Critics have raised questions about privacy, whether age-verification tools can really work as intended, and how easily young people might get around them. Others have pointed to the speed with which the law was written and approved. French Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff defended the timetable before the vote, saying the tools already exist.

The French social media ban does not come out of nowhere. It lands as European governments move more aggressively on children’s access to online platforms, driven by concerns over mental health. The UK and the European Union are both working on their own limits. In the UK, former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in June that under-16s would be banned from social media from January 2027, along with an optional midnight curfew for older teens. In May, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a social media delay for children and said new legislation could follow within months.

France is only the second country to adopt a national ban, after Australia. But the Australian example is already being read as a cautionary tale. Australia banned under-16s from social media in December, yet officials there have acknowledged that many young people still use the platforms. In March, Australia’s eSafety Commission said seven out of 10 children under 16 who had accounts before the ban still had some access.

Internet studies professor Tama Leaver of Curtin University told the BBC that Australia’s effort has failed in technical terms, though he said it proved such a restriction can be done and called it a kind of experiment. He also argued that young people should be included in the discussion so that rules are built with them rather than imposed on them. Leaver said France may have a better chance of success because it requires age verification for everyone, but he warned that this approach could also increase privacy risks and push some teenagers into less regulated online spaces.

The new French law now stands as one of the clearest tests yet of how far democracies are willing to go to control children’s online lives. What happens next will matter far beyond France, because the result could shape how American families, lawmakers, and platform companies think about age checks, privacy, and who should control access to social media.

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