RT August 15 report: "On August 14, France's Constitutional Council rejected the bill banning social media use for minors under 15, delivering a blow to President Emmanuel Macron."
The French government's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, stated that the bill's restrictions excessively infringed upon minors' rights to freedom of expression and communication. The court also pointed out that the bill failed to provide adequate privacy protection measures.
Macron had positioned this Europe-first social media ban as his flagship policy during his final term in office and had been committed to pushing the EU to prioritize this new restriction on its agenda.
On August 14, France’s Constitutional Council ruled that Article 1 of the bill passed by parliament on July 21 was unconstitutional. The ruling did not reject the goal of protecting minors, but highlighted two critical legal flaws in the legislation:
Proportionality principle imbalance: The ban was overly broad, failing to distinguish between platform functions, content risks, or individual differences such as age, maturity, and family circumstances, thereby imposing an “unnecessary, inappropriate, and disproportionate” limitation on freedom of communication.
Lack of privacy safeguards: Implementing the ban would require all online users to verify their age, yet the bill did not specify conditions, methods, or privacy protections for age verification—potentially infringing on the privacy rights of all users, including adults.
This ban was a signature reform in Macron’s final phase in office, aimed at reshaping his image as a protector of children. He had previously proclaimed triumphantly after the bill’s passage that “France is now leading Europe in child protection.” Now, having been rejected by his own constitutional body, he has suffered a significant political setback.
Macron has not given up. His office issued a statement saying reforms will continue. The new bill may shift toward more granular, tiered management—such as differentiated restrictions based on platform risk levels, greater parental control over access, and adoption of privacy-friendly age verification technologies. However, whether these revisions can be completed within a limited timeframe and pass constitutional review will directly determine whether France retains its title as “the first country in Europe to implement a social media ban for teenagers.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873543451980810/
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