Politics · Constitutional CouncilFrance's Top Court Kills Under-15 Social Media Ban — Macron to Rewrite by SpringAired August 16, 2026 at 2:48 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00France's highest constitutional0:01authority on Friday struck down a law0:03that would have banned children under 150:05from social media apps and certain video0:07games, leaving the government's flagship0:09effort [music] to shield minors online0:10without a legal mechanism for now. The0:12vetoed law set the threshold at 15 and0:15applied across social media apps and0:16certain video games, a scope the council0:18ruled disproportionate. [music]0:20The council said the blanket restriction0:22went too far on free expression and0:24would have swept every adult into0:26verification. While the government0:27maintains the intervention is needed to0:29address documented mental and physical0:31health risks to children and0:32adolescents. President Emmanuel Macron0:35has tasked his [music] prime minister0:37with drafting a revised bill designed to0:39answer the council's objections, with0:41the government aiming [music] to0:42introduce new legislation by next0:44spring. That spring deadline is the next0:46decisive marker after Friday's veto.0:48With the narrowness of the new scope,0:50how verification can avoid covering0:51every adult, and which apps and games0:53are actually covered [music] still to be0:55defined. This account rests on a single0:57report published August 15th that has0:59not yet been independently confirmed.1:01And the unresolved question is how any1:03rewrite can narrow the ban and redesign1:05verification to protect [music] minors1:06without again crossing the1:07constitutional line on expression and1:09privacy.1:10Like and follow for more stories that1:12matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗