France to ban kids from social media as Macron issues furious challenge to EU
His intervention came after a teaching assistant died after being stabbed outside a middle school in Nogent, in the Haute-Marne department in the north east of the country on Tuesday, according to French officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a stern challenge to Brussels, insisting his country will ban under-15s from accessing social media if the bloc doesn't implement it. Greece is leading a push to get the EU to place limits on how much time teenagers can spend online, with the support of France and Spain, but Macron says swift changes need to be made.
Speaking to France 2, Mr Macron said: "We must ban social media for those under 15.
"I'm giving us a few months to get the European mobilisation going. Otherwise...we'll start doing it in France. We can't wait," he told the public television channel. His pledge came after a teaching assistant died after being stabbed outside a middle school in Nogent, in the Haute-Marne department in the north east of the country on Tuesday.
C’est une recommandation des experts de la commission écrans : je porte l’interdiction des réseaux sociaux avant 15 ans. Les plateformes ont la possibilité de vérifier l’âge. Faisons-le.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 10, 2025
A 14-year-old suspect was arrested at the scene and is in police custody. Education officials told AFP he “appeared to be a student at the school”.
Mr Macron also announced that age verification will soon be introduced on websites selling knives online, akin to measures already in place on pornographic sites.
He said: "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."
In a post on X later that evening, the French President wrote: “I'm banning social media for children under 15. Platforms have the ability to verify age. Let's do it."
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French PM François Bayrou has also announced his desire to outlaw the sale of "all knives" to minors, as per Politico.
It's not known if social media or online knife sales played any role in Tuesday's incident.
Efforts are already underway by French authorities to pressure some social media platforms, such as Reddit, X, Mastodon, and Bluesky to bring in age verification by classifying them as pornographic sites, as per the outlet.
Australia became the first country to enforce legal age verification to access social media sites last year.
Platforms like Facebook or Instagram must now verify the age of their users when they're signing up, with teenagers under 16 unable to access them under Australian law.
