France Approves EU’s First Nationwide Social-Media Ban for Under-15s

States periodically draw new lines around youth and emerging media: the U.S. Communications Decency Act (1996) tried—and largely failed—to wall off minors from online indecency, while COPPA (1998) settled on a 13-year threshold. France now moves that line to 15, echoing Australia’s under-16 ban (2025) but within the EU’s far stricter data-protection ecosystem (GDPR, 2018). The push reflects two intertwined long-term forces: (1) a century-long expansion of public health paternalism that once targeted child labor (FLSA, 1938) and tobacco ads (Loi Évin, 1991) and now targets algorithmic feeds; (2) Europe’s sharpening willingness to regulate U.S. and Chinese tech giants as systemic risks. Whether this moment endures will hinge on enforcement—Australia’s spotty results and minors’ VPN work-arounds suggest the state may be over-promising. Still, if France’s “digital majority” takes root, global norms on age, privacy, and platform liability could look very different by 2126.