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French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that a new bill regulating access to social media platforms for children under 15 has been completed.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that international media cited the French leader as saying this.
According to the reports, Macron said he had treated the protection of children in the online environment as a responsibility since the first day he took office and remained determined on the issue. The French government has already submitted the new bill to the European Commission. Although both chambers of the French parliament had previously adopted legislation regulating social media use by children under 15, France’s highest constitutional court, the Constitutional Council, annulled the law in August. Macron said that following the council’s decision, the government had been instructed to prepare new regulations consistent with European standards and legally sound, and that the task had been completed through intensive technical work.
The Constitutional Council was reported to have concluded on Aug. 14 that the law constituted a disproportionate interference with young people’s freedom of expression. While acknowledging that protecting children’s interests was a constitutional requirement, the council said the regulation was insufficiently designed to identify the risks posed by the online environment to children’s health and safety. Macron stressed the importance of adopting the new regulations across Europe. France’s initiative comes amid broader European efforts to strengthen safeguards for minors online while balancing child protection with freedom of expression.
