The French president backs age-verification system similar to controls on porn sites.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he hopes to have a law in place by early 2026 to ban access to social media for children under 16.
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He cited Australia’s model, which has banned social media for those under 16 for about a week, and said France’s plan is to implement a verification system similar to the one in force since 2024 to prevent minors from accessing pornographic websites.
Macron said the drastic measure is justified because “the major platforms are not interested in cooperating” in controlling certain content that can incite or trigger mental health problems among young people.
“Before age 16, emotional life is not structured, the brain is not mature, and minors can be destabilized if they are exposed to social media content,” the French leader said, citing the risks of depression, cyberbullying, sedentary lifestyles and sleep problems.
Australia has banned social media for kids and teens under 16. They cannot set up new social media accounts and existing profiles are being deactivated including Tiktok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Threads.
Good move ! Save the kids.
— Dr. Gatimu, Ph.D. (@Gatimu) December 10, 2025
Macron welcomed the EU’s decision to make it the responsibility of each member state to “establish” the age of majority for accessing social media.
In that context, Macron said he supports applying to social media the same controls France has used to regulate access to pornographic websites, which were being accessed by about 2 million minors each month, with an average age of 12.
France’s 2024 law regulating the internet established an age-verification system based on the issuance of a certificate of legal age under a “double anonymity” practice designed to protect users’ privacy. The system includes submitting a user’s national identity card or a photograph later analyzed by artificial intelligence to verify age.
#France | Emmanuel Macron’s deadline expires with no solution to the country’s political crisis. pic.twitter.com/epcXv03DEy
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 8, 2025
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Source: EFE
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