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France has become the first European country to ban children under 15 from accessing social media, following in the footsteps of the pioneer Australia, which banned it for those under 16 in 2025.
This Tuesday, the French Parliament gave final approval to the law, which is expected to come into force at the start of the school year, having been ratified by the National Assembly with 279 votes in favor and 81 against.
The text states that those under 15 will not be able to access social media services, with online encyclopedias, development platforms, or open-source educational projects excluded from this ban.
It also expands the mobile phone ban in schools, extending a restriction that currently only applied to primary and middle schools.
Following the example of the Australian legislation passed in 2025, the platforms will be responsible for implementing mechanisms to verify the age of their users.
Following the entry into force of the Australian law on December 10, 2025, which is one of the strictest in the world for controlling minors' access to networks, many countries have followed its path as part of this protectionist wave.
In June, the United Kingdom announced limitations even more restrictive than Australia's, which will go into effect during 2027, such as a 'nighttime curfew'.
A bit earlier, on February 5, 2026, Slovenia reported on a bill to ban the use of networks for those under 15, and on that same day, Finland announced changes to restrict access for those under 15.
The Austrian government coalition also announced this year a legislative project to ban access for those under 14, while Portugal is preparing a bill that sets the minimum age at 16.
Meanwhile, Spain approved a draft law in March 2025 to protect minors on the internet, which forces new devices to have parental controls and raises the age to hold an account from 14 to 16.
Greece plans to ban access to networks for those under 15 starting January 1, 2027, through an existing state parental control application (Kids Wallet).
Andorra approved a modification to the law on the rights of children and adolescents on March 5, 2026, which provides for the prohibition of access by those under 16 to networks that carry a risk.
Furthermore, on April 24, 2026, Norway announced a bill to ban access to networks for those under 16.
In April of this year, the Turkish Parliament approved a ban on social media for those under 15.
The government of the United Arab Emirates also approved a ban on social media for those under 15 last June.
New Zealand proposed a project on May 6, 2025, to ban access for those under 16 with fines that would reach two million New Zealand dollars (1.05 million euros).
In March 2026, Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian country to ban access for those under 16 to social networks, while Malaysia was the latest Asia-Pacific country to join on June 1, 2026.
The government of the Maldives also intends to restrict access to networks for those under 16 before the end of 2026.
In the United States, in March 2024, the Florida Congress approved a measure that prohibits children under 13 from opening social media accounts and requires parental authorization for adolescents aged 14 and 15.
That same year, the State of New York approved the SAFE for Kids Act, which restricts addictive features on platforms used by those under 18, and the Child Data Protection Act, which prohibits companies from collecting and processing their data.
In Venezuela in 2024, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, announced a law to regulate social networks following the death of two adolescents and mass poisonings in several schools, events associated with challenges that became popular on these platforms.
In September 2025, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law that requires platforms to include age verification and parental approval systems for minors under 16.
In Ecuador and Colombia, bills to restrict the use of social networks for those under 15 are currently being analyzed. The Colombian Senate is also proposing a time restriction between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM.
In the case of Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that three regional forums will be held in August of this year with the aim of generating a proposed law to be delivered to the Congress of the Union.
[Publicidad]