A Constitutional court in France on Friday rejected a bill that would ban access to social media for minors under 15 years old in a major blow to French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Council of State, the top administrative court that advises the French government, said the restrictions in the bill disproportionately infringe on minors’ right to freedom of expression and communication. The bill also fails to put in place adequate protections for privacy, the court said.
Macron had made Europe’s would-be first social media ban a flagship policy of his second and final term, aiming to push the new restrictions to the top of the agenda of the European Union. Macron had hoped to implement a ban in September in time for an expected announcement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of EU-wide measures.
The government bill had passed through the legislative procedure after a lengthy back-and-forth earlier this summer. It was set to bring forward Europe’s first social media age restrictions with Greece and Denmark following suit.
But Article 1 of the French bill essentially rendered it a blanket ban, not distinguishing enough between the risks of each social media platform nor the differences in vulnerability of minors themselves, the court said. It would also apply to online platforms that have not been proven to have risks to the health and safety of minors, said the court.