France votes to ban social media for children under 15

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France has voted to ban social media for children under the age of 15, President Emmanuel Macron said.

In a post on X, he thanked the parliamentarians for their support and said, "I had committed to it, and now it's been voted on: social media will be banned for those under 15 starting back-to-school. Thanks to the parliamentarians. It's up to the Constitutional Council to rule, then on to action to make this measure concrete and protect our children online."

According to CNN, this move makes France the first country in the European Union to introduce such an age limit.

Earlier in June, the United Kingdom had announced a ban on social media for children under the age of 16 years.

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a video message, had called it the need of the hour and a big decision for the country.

He had said in a video message how social media can leave children trapped in a cycle of endless scrolling that displaces play, sleep, and time with the family and can harm their mental health.

Earlier in June, a government panel in Japan called for strengthening the responsibilities of social media operators by requiring them to have stricter age verification and restricting some features, in a list of proposed measures to protect underage social media users, Kyodo News reported.

Australia already implemented a blanket ban on social media for children under 16 years of age last year. Other countries include Spain and Denmark, which are mulling over the decision.

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