France is the first European country to ban social media for minors. However, the text of the law, which will come into force in September, does not clarify which platforms will be prevented from accessing it.
And after Australia, it was France’s turn. More and more governments around the world seem to want to tackle the problem linked to young people’s dependence on social networks with draconian measures.
Yesterday, in fact, the French Parliament has definitively approved a law banning access to social media to children under 15 years of age.
The French veto
The goal reached yesterday comes at the end of a parliamentary journey that was anything but linear. Macron had in fact asked for the activation of one accelerated procedurewith only one reading instead of two in each chamber, so that the measure could come into force in September, with the start of the new school year.
The main issue, however, was about the legal framework of the textbecause according to the Senate a total ban would have risked being considered unconstitutional, while according to the National Assembly a partial ban would have been contrary to the rules of the European Union.
In the end, the Assembly’s line prevailed: on Monday the two chambers found a compromise and the text was approved on Tuesdayfrom September, minors under 15 will no longer be able to create new accounts on social media.
In detail, after the Senate vote on the afternoon of July 21st, the National Assembly approved the reform with 279 votes in favor and 81 against. For President Macron, who will leave office next year, this is one of the last significant measures of his presidency and a flagship initiative of his second term.
Macron spoke of a “greater progress“, underlining that France leads the way in Europe for the protection of children and adolescents.
How the ban works
The law will come into force in two phases, from September 1st, minors under 15 will no longer be able to create new accounts, while the platforms will then have four months to delete existing ones.
There are no sanctions neither for minors nor for parents, while some exceptions remain, such as online encyclopedias or digital projects with an educational vocation.
The text, however, it does not specify with which systems the age will have to be verified, leaving the platforms with the task of finding a solution, nor does it indicate which social networks the ban will apply to exactly. Added to this is the ban on the use of cell phones in high schools.
It is therefore a law similar to the one implemented in Australia at the beginning of the year, even if there are certain differences. For example, Canberra has drawn up a precise list of platforms involved, but leaving each one the choice of verification method: Snapchat will use account data and behavioral signals, TikTok will combine automatic systems and human moderation.
France, more cautious on a technical level, has for the moment decided to postpone these details to a later date.
The damage caused by social media in children
On a scientific level, i.e. on the real harmful effects of excessive use of social media for children, the picture is evolving, but increasingly less ambiguous: excessive use has harmful consequences for children.
Prolonged use (especially beyond two hours a day) increases significantly the risk of depressive symptoms and isolationwhile the continuous comparison with retouched aesthetic models generates insecurity, low self-esteem and, in serious cases, eating disorders.
In Italy, the EYES UP research, conducted on over 6,600 students from Lombardy, shows that those who open a social profile already in sixth grade obtain lower scores on average in Italian and mathematics than those who wait until they are 14.
However, there is no shortage of those who urge caution: researchers from the universities of Antwerp and Ghent, after examining around 40 recent publications, found conflicting results, assuming that social media can more than anything amplify already existing fragilities.
A commission of experts from the European Union had reached similar conclusions, giving a patchy picture: for some users the use of social media damages mental health, for others it does not.
In short, the consensus is not unanimous on the causal link, but the mass of evidence in favor of a concrete risk for younger people now seems to be sufficient to push governments to act as a precaution.
