France Blocks Ban on Social Media for Children Under 15 — Bloomberg
France’s Constitutional Council ruled that a bill proposing a ban on social media use by children under the age of 15 was unconstitutional.
The decision was made on August 14. The Constitutional Council noted that the proposed restrictions could violate freedom of speech and communication.
The French Parliament approved the bill in July. It stipulated that, starting in September, children under 15 would not be allowed to create new social media accounts, and a complete ban on the use of existing profiles was set to take effect in January.
The restrictions were planned to apply, in particular, to Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, X, YouTube, and TikTok.
As a result, it is currently impossible to implement the ban by the scheduled dates.
Source: Bloomberg.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected an attempt by Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and Google to defend themselves against thousands of lawsuits. In these lawsuits, the companies are accused of intentionally creating products that can be addictive to minors.
The French Parliament has passed a bill banning children under the age of 15 from using social media. This measure, which is one of President Emmanuel Macron’s key reforms, also includes a ban on the use of cell phones in high schools (lycées).
