Paris: In the wake of a fatal stabbing at a middle school in Nogent, a commune in Northeastern France, French President Emmanuel Macron has renewed and amplified his call for banning social media use for minors under the age of 15 years. A 14-year-old student is accused of killing a school supervisor on Tuesday, 10 June, prompting the president to draw a direct connection between social media exposure and youth violence.
"We must ban social media for minors under the age of 15," Macron argued on France 2 TV channel, just hours after the assault. "I'll give ourselves a few months to get a European response going. Otherwise, we'll start doing it in France. We cannot wait." Speaking from Nice, where Macron is hosting the United Nations Ocean Conference, his frustration about the slow pace of regulation was clear.
Education Minister Élisabeth Borne, who made a visit to Nogent shortly after the stabbing, called for a comprehensive review of school security policies and broader youth protection policies. "We are still searching for any measure that can avoid such dramas," she stated, citing ongoing efforts to reform disciplinary policies and fight digital addiction among young people.
Macron's words echo those he used earlier in May, when he unveiled age verification on social media as a priority. At the time, he asserted that "a young generation has been affected" by such platforms and called for a collective European response. Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz later set a three-month deadline for reaching European agreement. Without it, she warned, France would go solo with national rules instead.
France has already law 15 as the "digital majority." Platforms have been required since 2018 to block children under 15 unless parental consent is given. But the 2023 version of the law lacked specific enforcement powers. A 2024 update granted the media regulator ARCOM the authority to sanction platforms and block sites that are not compliant. Enforcement in practice has been minimal. Minors easily circumvent the block by lying about their age, and major social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are accused of turning a blind eye to it.
Macron now wants to make obligatory the use of technically difficult-to-circumvent, automated age verification systems. Those technologies—already used for online gaming and pornography—include credit card verification, facial recognition, or third-party verification services that confirm age without disclosing identity. French pornography websites have been legally required to employ such systems since April under ARCOM's mandate.
Globally, other nations are also tightening the screws on digital regulations. Florida prohibits social media for children under 14 and requires parental permission until 16. Australia has suggested the same age restriction. China, although it initially imposed digital curfews and usage limits on children, subsequently abandoned such attempts in the face of widespread circumvention.
Macron's announcement coincides with a high-profile parliamentary inquiry into online toxicity and influencer responsibility. The urgency is underlined by alarming statistics: French kids create their first social media account at an average age of 8.5, according to France's data privacy regulator CNIL. As Macron urges action, the coming months will determine whether Europe will be next or France will be alone.
