France’s Under-15 Social Media Ban

The story so far

1. 

   Update 2Aug 16 02:48 UTC26 days later

   France's Top Court Kills Under-15 Social Media Ban — Macron to Rewrite by Spring

   The Constitutional Council called a blanket under-15 ban disproportionate on expression and privacy — leaving Macron to try a narrower rewrite.

   Still open after this report

   • No verified text defines the narrowed scope, verification design, or covered apps and games for a rewrite.
2. 

   Update 1Jul 21 14:28 UTC

   15: France draws the line, and the rest of Europe is taking notes

   Paris becomes the first EU capital to bar under-15s from social media. Australia already did. The UK is next. Whether age checks can survive the trip is the open question.

   Still open after this report

   • Whether age verification systems can be deployed at French scale without becoming either trivial to evade or intrusive in routine use.
   • Whether left-wing lawmakers will refer the law to the Constitutional Council, and if so, on what grounds.
   • Which platforms the law will formally cover and how the regulator will treat VPNs, foreign-language apps, and accounts opened before the cutoff.