By Louise Rasmussen
PARIS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - France plans to ban children under 15 from social media sites and to prohibit mobile phones in high schools from September 2026, local media reported on Wednesday, moves that underscore rising public angst over the impact of online harms on minors.
President Emmanuel Macron has often pointed to social media as one of the factors to blame for violence among young people and has signalled he wants France to follow Australia, whose world-first ban for under-16s on social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube came into force in December.
His government will submit draft legislation for legal checks in early January, Le Monde and France Info reported.
Macron did not reference the legislative push in a New Year's Eve address but he did pledge to "protect our children and teenagers from social media and screens."
Earlier, the Elysee and the prime minister's office declined to comment on the media reports.
Mobile phones have been banned in French primary and middle schools since 2018 and the reported new changes would extend that ban to high schools. Pupils aged 11 to 15 attend middle schools in the French educational system.
France also passed a law in 2023 requiring social platforms to obtain parental consent for under-15s to create accounts, though technical challenges have impeded its enforcement.
MACRON WANTS MORE ACTION AT EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL
Macron said in June he would push for regulation at the level of the European Union to ban access to social media for all under-15s after a fatal stabbing at a school in eastern France shocked the nation.
The European Parliament in November urged the EU to set minimum ages for children to access social media to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents from excessive exposure, although it is member states which impose age limits.
Various other countries have also taken steps to regulate children's access to social media.
Macron heads into the New Year with his domestic legacy in tatters after his gamble on parliamentary elections in 2024 led to a hung parliament, triggering France's worst political crisis in decades that has seen a succession of weak governments.
However, cracking down further on minors' access to social media could prove popular, according to opinion polls. A Harris Interactive survey in 2024 showed 73% of those canvassed supporting a ban on social media access for under-15s.
(Reporting by Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Richard Lough and Gareth Jones)
