FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, July 22, 2026. The French Parliament sealed the final adoption of the law banning access to social networks for minors under 15 years old on Tuesday. The Senate voted on the text by 243 votes to 2, before the National Assembly approved it by 279 votes to 81, following a joint committee that decided between two competing approaches from the two chambers.

The measure will come into effect in two stages: on September 1 for the creation of new accounts, and on January 1, 2027, for existing accounts, after a four-month deadline. "We, the French, will all have to prove our age for four months. If we are under 15, the account will be closed," summarized Anne Le Hénanff, the Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs. The text also includes a ban on mobile phones in high schools, already in effect in middle schools.

Emmanuel Macron, who made this reform a flagship measure of the end of his second term, hailed "a major breakthrough": "France is paving the way in Europe for the protection of our children, our adolescents. We will continue." The President referred the matter to the Constitutional Council, which is now responsible for ruling on the text.

The question of implementation remains: the law does not provide for any sanctions for children or parents and entrusts platforms with the task of installing age verification devices, which may be multiple. The Minister cites France Identité or Docaposte, a subsidiary of La Poste, which "has the age of 95% of French children" through school digital workspaces. Several parliamentarians remain skeptical. Ecologist Senator Mathilde Ollivier denounced a "window-dressing" text, asking: "Who will actually carry out the age checks?" The Senate had initially proposed a two-speed system, distinguishing between prohibited platforms and platforms accessible with parental consent, before the broader formulation of the National Assembly prevailed, with exceptions for online encyclopedias and educational projects. The European Commission, for its part, presented a European age verification application in April, a sign of a broader movement in Brussels.