France's Top Court Strikes Down the Under-15 Social Media Ban
On Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, France's Constitutional Council struck down a law that would have barred children under 15 from social media, ruling that the blanket ban disproportionately restricted freedom of expression. The decision halts what would have been the European Union's first outright age limit weeks before it was to take effect, and sends President Emmanuel Macron's flagship measure back to be rewritten.
France's Constitutional Council on Friday struck down the government's effort to bar children under 15 from social media, finding that the blanket age limit was a disproportionate interference with freedom of expression and communication, CNN reported. The ruling dealt a significant setback to a measure that President Emmanuel Macron's government had made one of its signature initiatives, according to Bloomberg.
The decision halts what would have been the first outright age ban in the European Union, weeks before it was due to take effect in September, The Associated Press reported. It does not dispute that social platforms can harm young users; it faults the way France chose to respond.
What the council found
The council concluded that the ban amounted to a disproportionate restriction on the freedom of expression and communication of those under 15, CNN reported. It found the measure too broad, saying it could reach services where risks to minors have not been demonstrated and did not account for the circumstances of individual minors or the specific risks posed by different platforms, according to The Associated Press.
The court also raised privacy concerns, ruling that the law did not sufficiently safeguard users' privacy in light of the age-verification checks it would require, CNN reported. Critics of the ban had warned that verifying every user's age would compel adults as well as children to prove who they are before gaining access, a concern raised during the parliamentary debate, ABC News reported.
A flagship measure, sent back
Parliament had adopted the bill in July with a large majority, and it stood as one of the last major legislative achievements of Macron's presidency before his term ends next year, Bloomberg reported. The government had wanted the limit to begin at the start of the new school year, which would have made France the first EU member state to impose an outright ban rather than the parental-consent or age-verification rules adopted elsewhere, according to CNN.
After the ruling, Macron asked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to rework the legislation to address the council's objections and the wider European legal framework, with the aim of putting a revised version in place before spring 2027, The Associated Press reported. The government has signaled it intends to pursue the ban in a form that can survive constitutional review, according to CNN.
The harms that drove the ban
Supporters had framed the measure as a shield against the harms that reach children through engagement-driven feeds — among them cyberbullying, harassment and content promoting self-harm, eating disorders and suicide, CNN reported. Lawmakers and children's advocates argued that voluntary parental controls and platform pledges had failed to keep pace with the scale of that material.
The debate has run alongside litigation. Several French families have sued TikTok, alleging that its recommendation algorithm pushed their teenage children toward self-harm and suicide, and prosecutors have opened an investigation into the risks the platform's algorithms may pose to young users, according to ABC News. The premise of the ban was that the design of the platforms, not only the conduct of individual users, exposes children to harm.
A test other governments are watching
France is not the first country to try to wall children off from social media. Australia last year became the first to bar under-16s from holding accounts, a restriction that took effect in December 2025, CNN reported. Governments elsewhere weighing similar limits have been watching how France's attempt fares, PBS NewsHour reported.
Friday's decision draws the boundary of that experiment in Europe. The court did not rule that children are safe on the platforms; it ruled that a blanket ban, enforced by age checks on everyone, goes too far against constitutional freedoms, Bloomberg reported. The fight over how to hold platforms responsible for what their feeds do to children now returns to lawmakers, in France and beyond.