Youth protection: French Constitutional Court stops social media ban
France's Constitutional Council complains that the government's planned social media ban disregards the freedom of communication of minors. A corresponding law has now been halted for the time being.
The Constitutional Court of France has halted a planned ban on social media for teenagers under the age of 15. The Paris court justified its decision by stating that the new regulation violates freedom of expression. This ruling represents a setback for President Emmanuel Macron, who had commissioned Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to revise the proposed legislation.
To prevent minors under 15 from accessing certain online services, any user, including adults, must verify their identity before using the platform, according to the court's rationale. However, the legislators have not clearly specified the conditions and limits for this age verification, which means the necessary legal safeguards are not ensured.
The French constitutional council declared that the provisions of the ban "undermine the freedom of minors to express themselves and communicate" and described them as "an unreasonable interference." The judges particularly lamented that the adopted ban "introduces a general access ban to social networks for all minors below a certain age, without distinguishing between the affected services."
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