Close Menu
Health Freedom

France’s Macron Demanding EU-Wide Social Media Ban For Kids Under 15 After Losing At Home

Richard BakerBy 6 Mins Read

France’s Macron Demanding EU-Wide Social Media Ban For Kids Under 15 After Losing At Home

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen to draft a new European Union law that would ban social media use for children under 15 across all member states, according to a report published by Reclaim The Net [1].

The request follows the French Constitutional Council’s Aug. 14 decision striking down Macron’s domestic under-15 social media ban as unconstitutional and “disproportionate” [2]. The court ruled that the legislation infringed upon freedom of expression, according to the BBC [2]. The ban had been approved by French lawmakers in July, making France the first European country to attempt to block young people from social platforms over concerns about harmful effects on children’s mental health [2].

Macron has stated he will prepare a revised domestic bill during the fall of 2026, with the goal of having it operational before his presidential term ends in spring 2027, according to the report [1]. In the meantime, he has turned to Brussels, asking the EC to pursue legislation that would achieve the same objectives across the entire bloc [1].

French Court Cites Age Verification for All Users

The Constitutional Council stated that enforcing an under-15 ban would require age verification for every person seeking access to social platforms, not only children, according to the ruling reported by Reclaim The Net [1]. The court observed that a platform cannot know who is under 15 unless it checks all users to identify adults and older teenagers who are allowed to use the service [1].

The ruling said the measure was disproportionate, according to the BBC [2]. The court’s decision overrode the ban, which Macron had pledged would be introduced in stages from September [2]. France’s legislature had approved the law in July 2026, with the Senate adopting the compromise text 243-2 and the National Assembly following hours later with a 279-81 vote as reported by the Epoch Times [3].

The law would have covered new accounts starting Sept. 1, 2026, while platforms would have had until Jan. 1, 2027, to close accounts already held by under-15s, according to the report [3]. The measure also would have extended the existing school cellphone ban to high schools [3]. Similar concerns about age verification mandates have been raised in other jurisdictions, with critics noting that such systems function as digital identity requirements affecting all users, not just minors [4].

Macron Requests EU Action, Cites Urgency

Macron wrote to von der Leyen asking for an EU law that would “harmonize” the under-15 social media ban across all member countries [1]. He said “the urgency is there” and claimed there is already “a numerical majority” of EU countries that would support such a measure, according to the report [1].

Macron also wants the EU to regulate “addictive functionalities” and impose safety-by-default settings, such as time limits [1]. The French president has previously advocated for mandatory identity verification for social media users, one account per person and algorithm transparency on government terms, according to reporting from Reclaim The Net [5]. “We have to be sure there is one single person with one account,” Macron said at the Munich Security Conference [5].

In February 2026, Macron dismissed arguments favoring free speech on social media platforms as “pure b******t,” calling for total transparency in how algorithms shape online discourse, according to Russia Today [6]. Speaking in New Delhi, Macron argued that algorithmic bias carries “huge” democratic consequences, stating that people have “no clue about how the algorithm is made, how it is tested, how it is trained and where it will guide you” [6].

Commission Has Weighed Age-Gating Proposals

In July, von der Leyen said the EC would come up with online restriction proposals after the summer, including age-gating, the report stated [1]. That statement came before Macron’s domestic bill was rejected and before he asked her to take up the issue at the EU level [1].

Von der Leyen has not yet announced that the EC will act on Macron’s request [1]. In April 2026, she stated that “It is for parents to raise their children, and not the platforms” while announcing the readiness of the EU’s online age verification platform, according to reporting by Nick Corbishley [7].

Critics have characterized such platforms as a pathway to digital identity systems [7]. The push for social media restrictions for minors is occurring across multiple European countries.

Spain enforced a ban for children under 16 in February 2026, becoming the first European nation to follow Australia’s precedent [8]. Austria announced plans to ban social media for children under 14 in March 2026 [9]. Denmark proposed an under-15 ban in November 2025 [10].

Enforcement Questions Remain

For any law in France or at the EU level to work, social media platforms would still have to devise a reliable way to keep under-15s out, according to the report [1]. The report stated that an under-15 ban is in effect an age-verification mandate for everybody, because platforms must distinguish between children, minors, and adults [1].

Age-assurance systems may not necessarily reveal a person’s exact date of birth, but rather only the fact that they are above a certain age, and may not store identity documents or create a central database, according to the report [1]. However, they still introduce a gatekeeping signal that a platform uses when deciding whether to grant access [1].

The outcome depends on whether the EC acts and whether member states support the measure [1]. Concerns about age verification systems functioning as surveillance tools have been raised by digital rights advocates, who note that anonymity, one of the oldest protections for dissenting speech, is lost when identity checks become mandatory for all users [11].

References

  1. Cindy Harper. “Macron Seeks EU Law After France Rejects Under 15 Social Media Ban”. Reclaim The Net. September 10, 2026.
  2. BBC. “France’s top court blocks social media ban for under-15s”. BBC. August 14, 2026.
  3. The Epoch Times. “France Becomes 1st EU Country to Bar Children Under 15 From Social Media”. The Epoch Times. July 21, 2026.
  4. Reclaim The Net. “The Age Verification Con”. Reclaim The Net. March 27, 2026.
  5. Reclaim The Net. “Macron, Merz, and von der Leyen Defend Expanded Speech Controls”. Reclaim The Net. February 16, 2026.
  6. RT. “‘Free speech is pure bulls**t’ – Macron”. RT. February 19, 2026.
  7. Nick Corbishley. “The EU’s Digital Gulag Is (Apparently) Ready To Roll”. ZeroHedge. April 18, 2026.
  8. Kevin Hughes. “Spain BANS social media for kids 16 below joining global crackdown amid free speech concerns”. NaturalNews.com. February 07, 2026.
  9. BBC. “Austria plans social media ban for under-14s”. BBC. March 27, 2026.
  10. Ava Grace. “Groundbreaking social media ban for under 15s proposed in Denmark”. NaturalNews.com. November 11, 2025.
  11. Reclaim The Net. “Macron Calls Online Free Speech Argument ‘Pure Bullshit'”. Reclaim The Net. February 18, 2026.

Explainer Infographic

Read full article here

Related Posts