EXCLUSIVE: France’s top court strikes down under-15 social media ban — Muslim families in Paris react

By MNTV Staff Writer

France’s highest constitutional authority has struck down President Emmanuel Macron’s ban on social media for children under 15, ruling that it disproportionately infringed on freedom of expression — a significant setback for one of the flagship measures of his final term, delivered barely three weeks before it was due to take effect.

For the Muslim families in Paris who had been weighing the ban, the ruling landed on a debate they were already split over. 

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Sana Benali, a mother of two who spoke to MNTV before the decision. 

“My children were spending too much time on their phones. They’re reading more now, and we actually talk at dinner.” 

Karim Belkacem, whose 14-year-old attends a local secondary school, shared the worry: “I was worried about how much my daughter was seeing online. There was no real control over what children were exposed to.”

Others had questioned not the problem but who should solve it — an unease that turned out to echo the court’s own reasoning. 

“I understand the concerns, but I don’t think a complete ban is the answer,” said Nadia Bensaïd, a schoolteacher and mother of one. 

“Parents should have some responsibility too. The government shouldn’t have to decide everything for us.” Amine Daoud, a father of three, agreed: “I don’t particularly like social media. But I’m uncomfortable with the government making that decision for every family.”

What court found

The Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that the law’s central provision was “neither appropriate, necessary, nor proportionate” to the freedom of expression of under-15s. France had been poised to become the first EU country to enact such a ban.

The law had cleared parliament decisively in July, by 279 votes to 81, and would have barred under-15s from opening social media accounts from September 1, with existing accounts closed within four months. 

But the Council found it too broad — potentially covering services where risks to minors were unproven, and ignoring each child’s age, family situation and maturity. It also raised privacy concerns, since requiring every user to prove their age created risks for everyone, not just children, without adequate legal safeguards.

Macron vows to try again

The ruling is a personal blow to Macron, for whom the ban was among the last major reforms of a term ending in 2027 — but his government signalled it would not give up. 

The Élysée said Macron had tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with rewriting the legislation to address the Council’s concerns, insisting the goal of protecting children from the “scientifically documented” harms of social media remained unchanged.

The measure had been a personal priority for the president, who has linked heavy social media use to mental-health problems and youth violence, and pushed it after a fatal school stabbing earlier this year. 

France had sought to follow Australia, which in December 2024 became the first country to require platforms to remove under-16s’ accounts. 

An earlier 2023 French law requiring parental consent for under-15s proved largely unenforceable — for the same lack of reliable age-verification technology the Council has now flagged as a constitutional problem.

A debate that isn’t going away

For children themselves, the ban had drawn mixed reactions. “At first I was really annoyed,” said 15-year-old Mehdi Rahmani.

 “Most of my friends used social media to talk after school. But after a few weeks, you get used to it.” 

His classmate Leïla Cherif still missed it, in terms that went to the heart of the court’s ruling: “I used to follow people who shared things about art and books. I don’t think that was harmful.” Twelve-year-old Inès Benamar barely noticed: “I thought I would be upset, but I don’t really miss it now. I spend more time playing outside with my cousins.”

Friday’s ruling does not end France’s push so much as force it to restart on firmer legal ground, with age verification now a constitutional question rather than a technical one. 

But as the families who spoke to MNTV suggest, the deeper divide is philosophical: whether children are best protected by empowering parents or by the state drawing a single line for everyone. 

France’s parliament answered one way; its highest court has answered another.