France passes a ban on children under 15 using social media.

On July 22, the French Parliament officially passed a bill banning children under 15 from accessing social media, marking a strong step to strengthen the protection of minors from the negative influences of the online environment.

With this decision, France becomes the first country in Europe to adopt a similar measure to Australia. Prior to this, Australia had already implemented a ban on children under 16 using platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube since last December.

Speaking before the French Senate, Minister for Artificial Intelligence Anne Le Hénanff said: "France is paving the way by becoming the first country in Europe to establish an age of maturity in the digital space."

The bill was passed by both the French Senate and the National Assembly on the same day.

French President Emmanuel Macron hopes the new law will take effect just before the start of the new school year. In April, he urged young people to limit their smartphone use and spend more time reading to become better citizens.

Children under 15 years old will not be allowed to open social media accounts.

According to the new regulations, from September 1st, children under 15 years old will no longer be allowed to create accounts on social media platforms.

Technology companies will have an additional four months to close existing accounts belonging to this user group. At the same time, platforms will also have to implement age verification systems approved by the French data protection authority to ensure compliance with the regulation.

Currently, most social media platforms oppose widespread bans. Businesses argue that they have implemented numerous measures to protect young users, including age restrictions and parental control tools.

However, companies also pledged to comply if governments issued mandatory regulations.

The European Union is also tightening regulations on social media.

In parallel with France's move, the European Commission (EC) is also developing its own set of regulations to strengthen oversight of social media platforms across Europe in order to protect young people.

This body will consider whether the new French law is consistent with existing European Union regulations.

According to President Macron, the lack of clear regulations on social media has caused many young people to lose their ability to concentrate.

Speaking at an event in April, he told young people: "We let them into a wild jungle, and that's what took away their focus."

The French leader argued that society needs to slow down the uncontrolled development of the digital environment to help children mature properly and become responsible citizens.

"That is why we want to emphasize that children will no longer be allowed to use social media before the age of 15," Macron stressed.