Op-Ed: France’s Constitutional Council Ruling Tests the Limits of Social Media Bans
This op-ed, authored by CDT Europe Online Expression Programme Director Christian Cirhigiri and Advisory Council Member Sabine Witting, first appeared in Tech Policy Press on August 25, 2026. A portion of the text has been pasted below.
As European member states such as France, Austria, Greece, and Spain advance legislative proposals establishing social media bans for children and minors of varying ages, the recent decision of the French Constitutional Council, the country’s highest constitutional authority, is a clear signal and reminder of the primacy of ensuring policy centers on, and at the very least does not impede, the fundamental rights of children and all users.
On Aug. 14, France’s Constitutional Council, the country’s highest constitutional authority, struck down the central provision of a law that would have prohibited children under 15 from accessing social media. The law, adopted by the French Parliament on July 21, was intended to address risks the Parliament determined were associated with social media use, including anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and online harassment. It was due to take effect at the start of the 2026-27 school year.
Now, the Constitutional Council has declared Article 1 of the bill contrary to the French Constitution. The Council did not reject the objective of protecting children. Instead, it found that the blanket prohibition was disproportionate because it did not adequately account for differences among services or among individual children.
It also found that the legislation failed to provide sufficient legal safeguards for age assurance, which could require adults as well as children to prove their age before accessing covered services. President Emmanuel Macron has tasked Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to prepare a revised proposal, with the government aiming for a new version by spring 2027.
The bill, initially titled “Loi visant à protéger les mineurs face aux risques associés à l’usage des réseaux sociaux,” (Law aiming to protect minors from risks associated with social media usage), was expected to be a sweeping victory for President Macron’s final year in office.
In this op-ed, we discuss three key ideas from the French Constitutional Council’s decision that should be considered as the institutions develop their EU-wide approach on child online safety.
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