Macron issues threat to ban social media for minors
(MENAFN) French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a ban on social media use for children under the age of 15, citing its role in rising youth violence. He warned that France would implement the measure independently within months if the EU fails to act collectively.
Speaking to France 2 on Tuesday, Macron made the remarks following a knife attack by a 14-year-old student in Nogent, eastern France. The teenager stabbed a 31-year-old teaching assistant during a routine bag check and injured a police officer before being apprehended. The student, reportedly from a stable background with no prior behavioral issues, had even participated in anti-bullying initiatives. The victim, a mother of two, had joined the school staff in September.
Macron stressed that this was not an isolated case, pointing to a previous fatal school stabbing in April. He linked the violence in part to social media exposure among youth, calling on the EU to enforce strict age limits. “I’m giving us a few months to coordinate with Europe. If not, we’ll act in France,” he said.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Macron added that experts support such regulations and called on tech companies to implement age verification tools: “Platforms have the ability to verify age. Do it.”
France has already begun testing a “digital break” policy in 200 schools, prohibiting phone use by students under 15 during school hours. The Education Ministry has also stepped up security, conducting random bag checks that have resulted in the confiscation of 186 knives in just two months.
Other EU countries, including Spain and Greece, support a proposal requiring age verification on all internet-connected devices, which would affect platforms like Facebook and X. However, EU-wide implementation has been slow due to regulatory differences and the accessibility of social media platforms from outside the bloc.
Meanwhile, Russia introduced similar rules in September, banning mobile phone use in schools except during emergencies.
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