French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation

France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also set to propose European regulations in autumn.

France’s flagship plan to block children under 15 from social media has collapsed in court, delivering a heavy blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s digital agenda.

Fearing a clash with the European Union’s (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA), lawmakers had stripped all direct sanctions against tech platforms from the Bill. To bypass Brussels, the final text targeted minors directly with a blanket usage ban rather than holding the companies accountable.

But the proposed ban violated young people’s freedom of expression, stripped parents of their educational authority, and lacked basic privacy safeguards for mandatory age-verification checks, the Council ruled on Friday.

Furthermore, the judges rejected the legislation because it failed to distinguish between hazardous social networks and harmless digital tools. The law would have equally targeted collaborative educational and leisure apps.

Opposition parties hail setback for youth social media ban

The centre-left Socialist Party and the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise, which spearheaded the successful constitutional challenge, hailed the ruling as a major setback for President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling centrist coalition Ensemble pour la République.

“We had warned them that this measure, as well as being unenforceable, missed the real issue,” declared the Socialist Party on Facebook on Saturday, reacting to the court’s ruling.

The opposition parties pointed to the ineffectiveness of outright bans and instead called for phased access from the age of 13 and targeted regulation of harmful content on the platforms themselves. For this, they argue, responsibility must lie with the social media companies themselves, not with children and parents.

“What is needed is not to say ‘we’re banning TikTok’, but rather ‘we’re banning what is dangerous on the apps’; therefore, apps containing dangerous elements must be banned if they do not reform,” demanded Socialist Deputy Arthur Delaporte.

Centrist allies lash out at Macron’s haste

Centrist Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly (Union Centriste), who served as Rapporteur for the Bill in the Senate, had voiced strong criticism of the bill. “Right up to the end, I warned of the constitutional risk,” she explained in an interview with Franceinfo on Saturday.

Her parliamentary group is a key ally in the legislative chamber, where the president’s camp does not hold a majority of its own.

Morin-Desailly criticised the French government for acting too hastily. Her criticism came despite her recommendation in July to pass the Bill as a symbolic spur for European regulation.

Forcing through the regulation ahead of the start of the school year in September was not sensible, the Senator pointed out. Looking back on the Senate’s constitutional warnings the government had ignored, she said, “We have wasted a lot of time.”

Macron vows to fight for renewed regulation

The French government’s defeat leaves a regulatory vacuum in digital child protection. Increasingly, scientific evidence links addictive social media platform designs to severe harm in children’s mental health and brain development.

Macron announced that he would examine the constitutional concerns and initiate a new version of the bill. “I take note of the Constitutional Council’s decision on the ban on social media for under-15s, but I am not giving up,” Macron stated.

To this end, he instructed his Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, to present a legally sound revised version by spring 2027.

Brussels to propose regulation for digital sphere

The failed manoeuvre highlights the current regulatory uncertainty in Europe. Alongside France, Spain has also adopted stricter regulations. In Germany, the governing coalition is discussing a similar approach.

Effective child protection on digital platforms must go through Brussels, according to European legal experts.

The European Commission will propose a draft regulation on social media for young people this autumn to end the patchwork of national initiatives.

See related story:

France Passes Strict Youth Social Media Ban But New Law Lacks Strong Enforcement Mechanism

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