法国宪法委员会于8月14日裁定推翻总统马克龙提议的禁止15岁以下儿童使用社交媒体的法案[3]。该禁令曾得到法国议员在7月的支持[4]，原计划从9月开始分阶段实施[4]。宪法委员会认为这项立法侵犯了言论自由和通信自由[2][4]，因为该禁令实质上要求所有人（包括成年人）在访问社交平台前证明年龄[3]。
法院还指出，该法案对言论自由的限制既不恰当、必要也不成比例[4]，且未能明确规定年龄证明的方式和适用限制，缺乏足够的法律保障来确保对隐私权的尊重[2][3]。根据原始立法，从9月起所有15岁以下人士无法开设账户，从2027年初起将适用于所有现有账户[4]。
马克龙已指示总理塞巴斯蒂安·勒科尔努修订该法案以解决宪法委员会的顾虑[3]，政府表示将"尽快"提议新草案，目标在2027年初总统大选前实施改革[2][4]。
France's Constitutional Council has struck down a proposed law that would have banned children under 15 from using social media platforms, ruling that the measure violates freedom of expression.[2][3][4] The court determined on August 14, 2026, that the legislation is neither appropriate nor proportionate, as it would require all users—including adults—to verify their age before accessing social platforms.[3]
The ban had been passed by French lawmakers in July and was set to take effect in September, with French President Emmanuel Macron championing the phased implementation starting that month.[2][4] Under the original terms, no one under 15 would have been able to create new accounts from September 1, while existing accounts would have been closed by January 2027.[4] However, the Constitutional Council found that the law failed to provide adequate legal safeguards regarding privacy rights and did not specify how age verification would be conducted or what limitations would apply to it.[2][3]
Macron has instructed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to revise the legislation to address the court's concerns, with the government pledging to propose a new draft as soon as possible.[3][4] The administration aims to implement reforms before the 2027 presidential election in spring.[2][3] The ruling comes as other nations have moved in similar directions: Australia became the first country globally to ban users under 16 from accessing major social media platforms in December 2024,[2][3] and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in June that British users under 16 would face a ban starting January 2027.[4]