France is gearing up to ban social media for kids under 15, a bold initiative led by President Emmanuel Macron. This move comes in response to growing worries about the negative effects of social media on young people, especially following a tragic school stabbing that has sparked a nationwide conversation about online safety. While a total ban across the country isn’t on the table just yet, these proposed restrictions mark a significant change in how France aims to protect its youth in the digital world.

President Macron has made it clear that France "cannot wait" for the European Union to come up with a collective solution for age verification and social media access for minors. He’s given the EU a few months to get moving, warning that if there’s no progress, France will go ahead with its own ban. This firm stance reflects a growing frustration among French officials with the slow pace of EU action, even as the European Commission works on a unified age verification system, with a pilot program expected by July 2025.

The proposed ban is part of a broader push for social media platforms to adopt strong age verification processes. French authorities are even considering classifying certain platforms, like X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Bluesky, and Mastodon, as "pornographic websites" to legally require them to enforce strict age checks, similar to what’s already done for adult content sites. This approach aims to ensure that minors are genuinely kept away from platforms that aren’t suitable for them.

France's bold move puts it in the lead among European countries that are stepping up efforts to regulate how children interact online. While the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) already gives member states the power to set minimum ages for data processing, France is taking it a step further with a proposed ban that aims to restrict access altogether. This action highlights a growing global concern about the mental health and safety of children who are exposed to unregulated social media, encouraging other nations to think about or adopt similar age-based restrictions on digital platforms.