France’s Constitutional Court strikes down social media ban for under-15s

France’s highest legal authority has thrown out a landmark law that would have barred children under the age of 15 from using social media platforms, ruling that the legislation crossed the line on free expression and raised serious concerns about how age verification would be handled.

What the court decided

The Constitutional Council, which reviews French laws before they take effect, found that the proposed ban was disproportionate. Its judges concluded that blocking minors from platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat wholesale — without adequate nuance — amounted to an excessive restriction on freedom of communication. The court also flagged the privacy implications of forcing platforms to collect and verify the ages and identities of millions of users. That’s a significant concern. Age-checking systems typically require users to submit government-issued ID or biometric data, which critics say creates new risks around data security and surveillance.

A blow for Macron’s digital agenda

The ruling is an embarrassment for President Emmanuel Macron, who made protecting children online one of his flagship domestic causes. His government pushed the legislation through parliament last year, pointing to mounting evidence linking heavy social media use to anxiety, depression and sleep disorders in teenagers. Macron had described unregulated access to platforms as a «collective poison» for young people.

The president isn’t backing down. His office confirmed that the government would draft a revised bill aimed at addressing the constitutional objections while preserving what it called the «core ambition» of the original law.

The numbers behind the debate

The stakes are real. A 2023 survey by the French public health agency found that roughly 82 percent of children aged 13 to 14 in France used at least one social media platform daily. Among 11 to 12-year-olds, that figure was still above 40 percent. Globally, platforms like Meta and ByteDance have faced intensifying pressure from governments — Australia passed its own under-16 ban late last year — but France’s approach has now hit a legal wall.

France isn’t alone in struggling to turn political intent into enforceable law.

What happens next

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Digital Affairs said the government was «studying the ruling carefully» and expected to present a revised framework within months. That new bill will likely try to put the compliance burden more squarely on the platforms themselves, rather than requiring individual users to hand over identity documents. Whether that satisfies the court’s concerns remains to be seen.

Child safety advocates, who largely supported the original law, are urging the government to move quickly. But civil liberties groups, who challenged parts of the legislation, say any new version still needs to protect young people’s right to privacy and access to information. It’s a genuinely difficult balance to strike, and France’s lawmakers will have to try again to find it.