France’s social media ban struck down

What's happened

France’s Constitutional Council has ruled that the law banning under-15s from opening social media accounts is unconstitutional, finding the bill fails to set limits for age verification and disproportionately infringes freedom of expression and privacy. President Emmanuel Macron has asked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to draft a revised, legally robust proposal before spring 2027.

What's behind the headline?

What the ruling means

• The Constitutional Council has rejected the ban because the law has not specified "the conditions and limits" for proving age, and it has disproportionately infringed freedom of expression and privacy for minors.
• The decision removes the legal pathway for an immediate, broad prohibition and forces the government to design tighter, constitutionally compliant safeguards for verification and privacy.

Who wins and who loses

• President Macron has lost a flagship, time-sensitive policy but has retained political cover: he has tasked the prime minister to rework the text and has set a firm deadline before spring 2027.
• Social platforms and privacy advocates have gained a reprieve from a blunt, nationwide verification mandate that would have required people to prove age to access services.

Likely next steps

• The government will produce a new draft that will specify acceptable age-check methods, legal limits on processing personal data, and carve-outs for platforms judged low-risk. This will aim to survive constitutional review and align with upcoming EU rules.
• Courts and lawmakers will focus on technical feasibility: approved age-verification tools, safeguards for minors' data, and how to stop circumvention. Expect tighter legal definitions and narrower scope, not a simple reissue of the same blanket ban.

Broader implications

• Other European governments that are preparing age-based restrictions will now face pressure to design measures that meet stricter constitutional or legal tests.
• Platforms will continue adapting product controls; lawmakers will push for explicit legal standards rather than open-ended obligations that require sweeping proof-of-age regimes.

Verdict

The ruling will force a redesign of French policy from a blunt ban to a legally constrained regime that specifies how age checks happen and how minors' data will be protected. That will slow implementation but increase the chance that new rules survive legal challenge.

How we got here

Parliament passed the bill in July to bar under-15s from new accounts from September and close existing accounts from January, requiring approved age-verification tools. The move followed similar measures in Australia and wider EU discussion about stronger child protections on platforms.

Our analysis

The Constitutional Council’s written decisions form the legal core cited across outlets. The Guardian reported that the council said the law "disproportionately infringe[s] upon the freedom of expression and communication" and failed to set the "conditions and limits" for age verification. The BBC Business and AP News quoted the council that Article 1 "constitutes an infringement that is neither appropriate, necessary, nor proportionate" and noted Macron has asked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to prepare a new, legally robust draft. Al Jazeera highlighted the council’s concern that the bill would require "every person, even an adult, to prove their age" and stressed privacy shortcomings. Politico and Bloomberg emphasised the court’s finding that the law did not distinguish between platforms or the varying vulnerabilities of minors, a point that explains why the council treated the measure as a blanket restriction rather than a targeted safety rule. These accounts converge on the same core quotes from the council and on Macron’s instruction to rework the law; they differ mainly in emphasis—some outlets foreground the political setback for Macron (The Guardian, Politico), others note the legislative timeline and implementation details (BBC Business, AP).

Go deeper

• What specific age-verification methods will the government propose next?
• How will new rules balance proof-of-age with privacy protections?
• Will the revised law target fewer platforms or specify different ages?

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• France - Country in Europe

  France, officially the French Republic, is a country consisting of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

• Emmanuel Macron - President of France

  Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is a French politician who has been President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra since 14 May 2017.

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• European Union

  The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its members have a combined area of 4,233,255.3 km² and an estimated total population of about 447 million.

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• Ursula von der Leyen - President of the European Commission

  Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician and the president of the European Commission since 1 December 2019. She served in the federal government of Germany from 2005 to 2019 as the longest-serving member of Angela Merkel's cabinet.

• Constitutional Council of France - Government agency

  The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are upheld.

• United Kingdom - Country in Europe

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• Australia - Country in Oceania

  Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands.