France’s president Emmanuel Macron has requested that his government and prime minister Sebastien Lecornu rework the draft legislation.

France’s top court, the Constitutional Council, has blocked a proposed bill banning social media for children under the age of 15, declaring that the legislation is too broad and has the potential to infringe upon young people’s right to freedom of expression. 

In July, French lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, which would have prevented under-15s from starting a social media account from September and closed the already active accounts of young people in the age range within four months.

Social media platforms would also have been required to implement age verification methods approved by the French privacy regulator.

However, bills in the country are subject to scrutiny by the council as a means of ensuring they comply with the law. 

The court explained its decision, stating that the bill fails to specify on the conditions and limits associated with age verification and that it impacts freedoms and privacy.  

It said: “The Council holds that the ​contested provisions, on the one hand, disproportionately infringe upon the freedom of expression and communication and, on the other, fail to provide the legal safeguards necessary to ensure the right to respect for private life.”

France’s president Emmanuel Macron has requested that his government and prime minister Sebastien Lecornu rework the draft legislation, taking into account the Constitutional Council’s concerns.

Had the bill gone through as initially planned, France would have become the first country in the EU to enact legislation of this kind. It would have followed in the footsteps of global counterparts such as Australia, which last December brought into effect the world’s first social media ban for minors under the age of 16. 

In June, Canada proposed a similar ban that would prevent under-16s from engaging with social media. The UK and the EU have also implemented and suggested measures that would better protect children online. 

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