France’s top court blocks bill banning social media for under-15s | CNN

France’s top court on Friday struck down a bill that would have banned social media for children under 15, ruling that it was too broad and disproportionately infringed upon freedom of expression. The Constitutional Council ruled that the proposed bill could not prohibit minors from social media “without infringing upon freedom of expression and communication,” was too broad to consider the individual situation of each minor or the specific risks of each platform, and raised privacy concerns. Last month, French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of this bill, which would have made France the first country in the European Union to introduce such an age limit. But bills in France are scrutinized by the Constitutional Council to ensure they comply with the French constitution. Following the decision, French President Emmanuel Macron tasked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with re-working the bill “as quickly as possible,” his office said in a statement, underlining his commitment to implementing the ban by spring 2027. The council’s objections were two-fold – the ban was too broad, and created a privacy problem since “the law itself implies that every person, eve