France said it was working with other member states to prevent children under 15 from accessing social media anywhere in the EU.
Clara Chappaz, France’s minister of state for digital affairs, announced May 9 she was trying to “build a coalition, with Spain, Greece, and now Ireland, to convince the European Commission” on the measure.
“My priority is clear: ban access to social media before the age of 15. I will not give up on this fight. Algorithms will not raise our children,” she wrote on X.
According to Chappaz, Europe needed to go “further to strengthen its scope so that it forces social networks not to accept the creation of accounts without age verification”.
France’s digital minister was in Ireland to meet with Irish authorities and major tech companies, most of which have European headquarters in Dublin.
Children under 15 were too young for content they may be exposed to on social media, “not to mention the proven risk of addiction”, she argued.
French MEP Stephanie Yon-Courtin, who was also in Ireland, argued that social media can be seen as an “addiction”
“Social networks are the new addiction and trend for a new generation, as cigarettes used to be. It’s a threat to the mental health of our children, and we should treat it as such,” she told Brussels Signal on May 12.
Following Chappaz’s Dublin visit, TikTok France released a statement saying “age verification remains one of the most complex issues in the sector”.
Chappaz said she found TikTok’s argument difficult to believe.
In an interview with La Tribune, the minister stated, “This has become their favourite excuse. But it’s not true. The platforms, which are among the most technologically advanced companies, know everything about our children: their tastes, their sleep patterns, the videos they watch when they’re not well.”
“They are capable of pushing targeted content to an 11-year-old, but they wouldn’t know whether he was 13 or 15. This hypocrisy is going to stop,” she added.
If France failed to rally a sufficient number of other European member states, France would strengthen its own national laws, she said.
Chappaz revealed her Irish counterpart, Minister for Digital Affairs and artificial intelligence Niamh Smyth, “has expressed her support”.
Some argued screen time and social media access should fall solely under parents’ responsibility, but the minister argued, faced with a “health crisis”, the state’s responsibility was to protect children.
“I don’t come with a rule to prohibit, but to protect. That’s a very different thing. This debate is not about morality, but about health, education and collective responsibility,” she said.
“Did you know that there are now hospital units dedicated to treating young people’s addiction to screens? In France, health professionals are sounding the alarm. Yes, we are facing a public health crisis, and it’s time to respond to the scale of the problem”, she added.
Stéphanie Yon-Courtin believed that it was the responsibility of lawmakers not to leave families alone in dealing with global platforms and algorithms designed to capture attention.
“They need support, and Europe must provide it. EU action won’t be excessive. It will be essential. This is about creating a safer and fairer digital space, not about replacing parents,” she said.
“In the age of the internet, national responses aren’t enough. We need a European solution that works across borders. As a mother and a local elected representative, I can tell you: this is the number one concern raised by parents I meet, ” she added.
Regarding age verification, the Commission is currently working on an age verification based on the EU Digital Identity Wallet standards, until the EU Digital Identity Wallet is available in 2026.
“The EU Digital Identity Wallet will allow users to prove their identity and access public and private services with their electronic ID”, they said.
It remained to be seen if there could be momentum at the EU level, within the Parliament or the Commission, for the kind of legislation that France wants to push.
Speaking with Brussels Signal on May 12, the European Commission argued that establishing the digital majority is the competence of EU Member States.
However, MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin sees potential for movement at the EU level.
“The EU Parliament is working on its own non-legislative report, for which I am shadowing for my Group, to put forward some proposals ahead of the Digital Fairness Act,” she said.
“The Commission will come up with the DSA guidelines on online minor protection to start addressing this issue with the DSA,” she added.
