France’s Parliament voted to ban children under 15 from TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X. The law takes effect September 1. That gives platforms several months to stand up age verification and delete existing accounts belonging to anyone under the threshold.
Both the National Assembly and the Senate backed the bill after lawmakers hammered out a compromise. President Emmanuel Macron has been among its loudest supporters, framing it as a major government push to cut children’s exposure to harmful content and excessive screen time.
Platforms will be required to verify users’ ages
Companies get four months to implement approved verification systems and block under-15s from creating or keeping accounts. Educational services and some non-social platforms are expected to be exempt. Before full implementation, the law still faces review for compliance with European Union regulations.
France already required parental consent for users under 15. Lawmakers decided that wasn’t enough, citing cyberbullying, addictive platform design and minors reaching harmful content.
Other countries implementing the restriction
France isn’t first. Australia banned social media for users under 16 in late 2025, and Greece, Austria and Vietnam have proposed or are weighing similar rules. The European Commission is examining how these national measures fit within existing EU digital regulations.
If France pulls it off, expect other governments to follow. The harder question lands on the platforms, which now have to build age verification that actually protects kids without turning into a data collection problem of its own.