France plans social media ban for children as UK considers time limits

Leaders are wrestling with how to protect children from harmful content online

French President Emmanuel Macron is intent on introducing a social media ban for under-15s. Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to ban social media for under-15s in France and introduce age verification for websites selling knives, as leaders across Europe seek to impose restrictions to protect children from harmful content online.

Speaking after the fatal stabbing of a teaching assistant in Nogent, eastern France, by a 14-year old pupil on Tuesday, Mr Macron wrote on X: “I'm banning social media for children under 15. Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let's do it.”

Mr Macron told France 2 that the country “cannot wait” for the EU to act on proposals to limit the amount of time teenagers spend online.

He said that France could proceed alone “in the coming months” if progress isn’t made at the EU level.

He also announced that age verification will soon be imposed in France on sites selling knives online, similar to measures that already apply to pornographic sites. “A 15-year-old will no longer be able to buy a knife online. That means we're going to impose massive financial sanctions and bans,” he said.

In March, French police started random searches in and around schools for knives and other weapons concealed in bags.

A new French law forcing pornography websites to impose age verification came into effect last week, prompting key websites to start blocking French users. Demand for private network services, which conceal the user’s location, surged in response.

French authorities are also attempting to force social media sites including X, Reddit, Bluesky and Mastodon to introduce age verification.

It comes as the UK juggles a newly launched national skills drive for young people to be trained in AI, with attempts to limit social media and smartphone use to protect children from harmful online content.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said last week that the government was looking at restrictions, such as a two-hour social media cap and a 10pm curfew.

Campaigners say that more pressure should be put on social media companies to remove harmful content that gets recommended to children.

Keir Starmer hosted a reception at Downing Street for London Tech Week. Bloomberg

Mhairi Aitken, senior ethics fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, said bans risked children “paying the price” for the mistakes made by social media and AI tool developers.

“We need to put more demands on the developers of these systems to make those systems safe for children, young people and vulnerable adults to engage safely on those platforms,” she told The National.

“There is a risk that if move towards bans, the impact then is that children and young people are paying the price, or are missing out on opportunities to use these tools, which can also have advantages for young people,” she said.

She urged the government not to take a “tech centric” approach to developing AI skills, but to equip children with critical thinking skills that would allow them to understand the best uses and “limitations” of AI tools.

“It’s not just understanding how the technology is developed and how it works, but the questions around, what do we want to use that technology for? How it complements human skills and expertise,” she said.

“With the increasing use of AI across kind of all sectors and all areas of our lives, increasing value needs to be placed on the fundamentally human skills and competencies, like critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving,” she said.

Elizabeth Clutton, a computer scientist and researcher at the University of Portsmouth, said the possible restrictions were “fair” given the evidence of a mental health crisis in children being fuelled by social media use.

It was still compatible with younger generations learning to use AI systems, after Mr Starmer unveiled the AI skills drive for young people at London Tech Week.

“You have to look at the impact that peer pressure has, which is a big driving force on the mental health problem that these kids are having,” Ms Clutton told The National during the Tech Week conference.

“It will help parents as well. If you set it as a blanket rule, there's no peer pressure. The scientific evidence is it’s harmful. I do think people need that framework of support when it comes to younger generations.”