France's social media ban for under-15s is struck down

This article was published on August 14, 2026 The Conseil constitutionnel censured Article 1 of the law on 14 August, finding the France social media ban for under-15s disproportionate. The school smartphone ban survives, because the Council was asked to rule only on that one article. The decision lands about two weeks before the ban was due to start, Bloomberg reported. Platforms were to stop creating accounts for under-15s from 1 September. Parliament gave the law final approval on 21 July. The desk covered that final vote at the time. The Council struck down the ban on freedom of expression grounds. It found the restriction was “une atteinte qui n’est pas adaptée, nécessaire et proportionnée”, Brut reported. In English, that is an infringement which is not suited, necessary or proportionate to the objective pursued. It raised the scope of the ban as a specific problem. The prohibition reached services where “les risques pour la santé et la sécurité des mineurs (…) ne sont pas établis”, meaning risks to the health and safety of minors are not established. The second ground was privacy. On age verification, the Council found that the legislator had not provided the legal guarantee