France submits revised EU proposal to keep under-15s off social media

Paris tries again after a legal setback

France has submitted a revised proposal to the European Commission seeking to prevent children under 15 from using social-media services. The move follows the French Constitutional Council's rejection in August of an earlier national framework. Euronews reported that the replacement draft was formally notified to Brussels, making the proposal a live European regulatory question rather than another political pledge. It is intended to preserve President Emmanuel Macron's central objective while responding to legal concerns about how a national ban would interact with European Union rules.

The redesigned measure focuses more heavily on services and features judged harmful or addictive to children. According to the inspected report, French authorities have identified roughly ten design elements, including mechanisms that encourage continuous engagement. The distinction matters: a rule aimed at particular platform functions may be easier to defend than a blanket national age restriction, especially where the EU's Digital Services Act already allocates oversight responsibilities for the largest platforms to the European Commission.

A national policy with an EU dimension

France's previous notification to the Commission described both a general prohibition for younger users and a conditional route for some adolescents. That official filing establishes that the government has been pursuing an enforceable age-based framework, not merely voluntary guidance. The new draft represents a further attempt to translate that policy into legislation after domestic constitutional review disrupted the original timetable.

Macron has also pressed for a common European response. In June, the Élysée linked children's access to social networks with broader questions of digital sovereignty, age verification and platform responsibility. A coordinated EU rule could reduce the risk that children or platforms evade a French-only regime by relying on services established elsewhere in the single market. It would also place enforcement within institutions already responsible for cross-border digital regulation.

Enforcement remains the decisive question

The proposal's practical effect will depend on how authorities define covered services, verify users' ages and distinguish prohibited engagement tools from ordinary platform functions. Strong verification could reduce circumvention but also create privacy risks if companies collect more identity data. A feature-based restriction presents a different challenge: regulators would need technical criteria capable of surviving rapid product changes and legal challenges.

The Commission's response is therefore the next important step. It may accept the notification, request changes or conclude that parts of the proposal conflict with EU law. French lawmakers would then still need to enact a constitutionally sound text and establish an implementation schedule. Until those stages are complete, the measure remains a submitted regulatory proposal, not an operating ban.