While Poland is considering banning the usage of social media for children and young people, France has already passed specified a bill, and the Constitutional Council has already thrown it in the trash. We urge the comment of our expert, Joanna Różycka-Thiriet.
In mid-August, a process began in the US in which damages could exceed a trillion dollars – 30 states sued Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) for deliberately addictive minors. European Commission launches further infringement proceedings against large platforms Digital Services Act (called DSA). Its aim is to defend users from confusion and to destruct illegal content from the Internet. The first fine on this basis was applied by the Commission to the X portal at the beginning of the year, where, among another things, accounts marked as verified were not verified at all. Poland is trying to ban the usage of social media for children and young people under the age of 15 (the first specified ban for young people under the age of 16 was introduced by Australia in 2025). Meanwhile, on August 14, the French Constitutional Council ruled that the ban on the usage of social media for persons under 15 years of age is unconstitutional.
Act to defend minors from the risks to which they are exposed to social media (because that's what this act is called) dated July 21st this year was intended to be the flagship initiative of the end of Emmanuel Macron's presidency. The second has a individual beef with social networks. The president and his wife Brigitte did not withstand long-term speeches and brought a trial to 10 net users who spread lying information about the first lady—that he allegedly was his brother who had undergone a sex change operation, and that he was a pedophile. On January 5, 2026, convictions were handed down – 1 individual was sentenced to six months in prison, the others were suspended. Sometimes they were people who “only” gave fake news and were not authors of content. The trial was so a informing to average users that they could not be harassed unpunished on the Internet. Macrons are besides on trial in a akin case in the United States, against the American influencer.
In December 2025, Macron described how he attempted to remove a film, the alleged Deep Fake, from Facebook about an alleged coup in France. About the film, the French president learned from 1 of the African leaders who seemingly believed in fabricated content and asked Macron: “Dear President, what is going on with you? I am very concerned.” The authoritative request for the removal of the Facebook movie was to respond to the president and his colleagues: “This does not violate our rules of use”. "These people are making fun of us. They don't give a crap about the peace of public debates, so they put us in danger" – he was about to comment on Macron at a gathering with readers of the paper "La Provence".
Returning to the bill of 21 July, the motion to examine the constitutionality of the bill to ban the usage of social networks for young people was made by socialists and the utmost left. As a result, the Council of the Constitution ruled that the introduction of a general ban on social media for people under the age of 15, without taking into account the types of platforms and the risks they represent, goes disproportionately far and violates the Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen (yes, the 1789 Declaration of Human Rights, which is inactive in force in France). Specifically, it violates freedom of speech and communication. The law does not take into account the function of parents who cannot abide specified a ban. It does not take into account the age and degree of maturity of the child. It besides violates the protection of private life, due to the fact that all users would gotta explain their age.
President Macron asked the government to prepare another bill cutting young people off from social media until the spring of next year. Now the government is wondering how to do this, taking into account the remarks of the Constitutional Council.
On the another hand, the Council did not competition another interesting provision of the Act, namely the ban on the usage of cells in advanced schools. Theoretically, the ban should enter into force on 1 September, but in practice many schools did not include legislative changes in their interior regulations, which would hold the implementation of the rules. Cells were already banned in simple schools and advanced schools.
On 14 August, the Council besides issued another crucial decision on the constitutionality of the Law on the Right to aid in Dying, adopted on 15 July. Thus, in France, adults with French citizenship or permanent residents of that country who endure from an advanced, serious and incurable illness causing them unbearable suffering will benefit from euthanasia.
Joanna Różycka-Thiriet
Expert at Schuman Foundation
