France has become the latest country to pass a ban on social media access for children, with a law enacted on 21 July 2026 prohibiting anyone under 15 from using such platforms. The law, which could take effect as soon as 1 September, also extends France's existing school mobile phone ban to cover secondary schools, building on restrictions already in place in primary and middle schools. It follows Australia, which became the first country to enforce a similar under-16 ban in December 2025, and adds to a growing wave of national measures aimed at tackling cyberbullying, addiction, mental health harms and exposure to predators among young users.

Beyond France and Australia, several other countries are at various stages of introducing comparable restrictions: Austria is finalising legislation banning social media for under-14s, Canada has introduced a bill covering under-16s that could take a year to pass, Denmark is aiming for a under-15s ban to become law by mid-2026, Germany's coalition has discussed but not agreed an under-16 restriction, Greece plans an under-15 ban from January 2027, and Indonesia has proposed a ban for under-16s. Critics, including the group Amnesty Tech, warn that such bans are difficult to enforce, raise privacy concerns over invasive age verification, and fail to reflect how younger generations actually use technology, though this has not slowed the pace of new legislation.