For Macron, banning kids from social media gives ‘the impression that he’s in charge’

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed ban on social media for children under 15 has become something of a political rattle. It’s an object he can wave around and make noise with, but so far one he’s been able to do little else with.

The idea is back in the news following both Paris’ recent push to prevent minors from accessing pornography online and a tragedy on Tuesday in which a 14-year-old student stabbed to death a 31-year-old school employee.

That evening in an interview, Macron pointed the finger at social media. He said his country cannot wait for the European Union to act and vowed to go it alone in the coming months if Brussels does not move fast enough. Though the local prosecutor in the stabbing indicated Wednesday that the suspected perpetrator used “social networks very little” and was rather “a fan of violent video games,” the ball was already in motion.

Bringing the social media age limit into the public debate could reap political rewards for Macron. The proposal is popular — a survey last year from Harris Interactive found 73 percent of French people support the social media age limit — and research shows children shouldn’t spend too much time on screens.

One of Macron’s former advisers, who, like others who spoke to POLITICO for this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said floating the proposal is “a way of giving the impression that he’s in charge.”

The adviser explained that if his efforts fail, Macron can simply blame parliament. But if they succeed, the French president can claim the “ability to set the political agenda around issues that transcend party politics.”

“He can tell whatever story [he wants] on this subject,” the adviser said.

Tech is an area where Macron has more authority than his predecessors given his efforts to turn France into what he called a “startup nation.” It’s also one of the few areas where he still wields domestic influence following the disastrous snap elections that led to a hung parliament.

But within Big Tech, there’s growing exasperation over what one industry representative called Macron’s “reflexive response” to blame social media when protest movements turn violent, such as during the Yellow Jacket protests in 2018 and the riots that followed the killing of a teenager by a police officer outside Paris two years ago.

“He instills the narrative that the violence comes from the platforms,” the representative said. “For the president, there are no problems in society; everything is exacerbated by social networks.”

Macron has been touting a social media and screen age limits since the beginning of his second term. A law limiting social media use for those younger than 15 was even passed in 2023 without the Elysée’s explicit support, but it fell into limbo both due to the technical complexities that come with age verification and because it came into conflict with European law, most notably the Digital Services Act.

A committee of experts organized by the Elysée formally recommended in April 2024 the 15-year-old age limit for social media, and in June of that year Macron vowed to put it in place. But then he lost his parliamentary majority.

Few are expecting immediate action, despite the urgency Macron expressed on Tuesday.

A lawyer with the Fondation pour l’Enfance, a French NGO that defends children’s rights, told POLITICO that Macron’s team often ends up with just “announcements rather than concrete measures.”

A ministerial adviser told POLITICO that Macron’s office has already organized several meetings for the coming weeks and months to move quickly on limiting both social media use and screen time for French children.

Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.