- French parliamentarians voted to turn the ban on social media for minors into law
- It is not law yet; must first pass through the French Senate
- Once enacted, minors under 15 years of age will no longer be able to access social platforms.
French parliamentarians have just voted 116-23 in favor of a ban on social media aimed at minors, in what is billed as an “important step” towards protecting children and adolescents online.
As you can imagine, not everyone is happy with the proposed rules.
The bill has not yet become law (France’s Senate must also approve it, and some wonder if it will be blocked by European legislation after a similar bill was halted in 2023), but it follows on the heels of similar rules we’ve been seeing in Australia, the United Kingdom, and some US states.
Speaking in a video released about the bill, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “The emotions of our children and adolescents are not for sale or to be manipulated, neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms,” in clear references to companies such as Instagram, X and TikTok.
Once introduced, these and other social media services will need to verify the age of French users or prevent them from accessing content. Given that some sort of age verification system may be emerging at the European level, France will likely be only the first EU country to impose such a ban; For example, Ireland, Spain and Denmark are also considering such rules.
While many parents, lawmakers and even some children have reacted positively, others have had fewer kind words to share.
Scrolling (ironically) through social media, you’ll find many comments calling this “legislative overreach.” While others are concerned about the need to share their IDs online, especially after several data breaches involving IDs from countries that have imposed similar rules (such as a Discord breach in which hackers stole thousands of photos of government IDs).
The best of two evils
You don’t have to look far to find reports showing the harmful effects of social media on mental health, some of which come from companies themselves. Nor do we find examples of the ways in which the platforms could be used and abused by users and their own creators, such as the recent example of Grok being used to create explicit images of women and children, or whistleblower claims that Meta platforms can target users with ads based on their emotional state (something Meta has denied doing, but admitted to investigating through a series of statements in 2017).
At the same time, I know how valuable social media can be. YouTube and TikTok can be incredible educational platforms, social media can provide access to invaluable news sources, create spaces for people to organize action around an important cause they care about, or simply give them the opportunity to find a crowd they can fit in with that they may not be able to find locally.
But does this good outweigh the evils?
Honestly, I’m not sure. If you ask me to choose one extreme or the other, I favor a ban, in part because widespread bans could be what forces platforms to finally clean up their acts.
I would still prefer a more nuanced approach.
Something that involves secure and private identity verification to verify age and that someone is a human being, that addresses issues affecting social media that go beyond those that simply affect minors to those that also affect users of all ages, and that gives parents the ability to make decisions for their children (by choosing to allow access to certain platforms when they think their child is ready).
Although that might be too much to ask of politicians who aren’t as internet savvy as they should be. Maybe as we see more bans over the next year they will prove me wrong and find an approach that works for everyone.
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