French Constitutional Council Strikes Down Social Media Ban for Under-15s

• The French Constitutional Council has rejected a proposed law that would have banned children under 15 from using social media.
• The court ruled that the measure imposed a "disproportionate restriction" on the freedom of expression of minors.
• President Emmanuel Macron has ordered a revised, legally robust version of the bill to be drafted before the end of his term in 2027.

Grounds for the Decision

• While the council acknowledged the need to protect the "best interests of the child," it argued the law was overly broad.
• The ban would have applied to online services where the risks to health and safety were not clearly demonstrated.
• Exceptions—such as educational resources, encyclopedias, and open-source software—were deemed too limited to account for the variety of online services.
• The bill failed to consider individual factors such as a child’s age, level of maturity, or family situation.
• The legislation lacked necessary legal safeguards to ensure the protection of minors' privacy rights.

Background and Next Steps

• The bill had been approved by the National Assembly on July 21 with support from center, right, and far-right parties.
• The challenge was filed by opposition deputies from La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, and the Ecologists.
• Macron, who initially aimed to implement the law by September, has tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with drafting a new, legally sound version.
• The revised proposal is expected to align with European regulatory frameworks to ensure it can withstand constitutional scrutiny.