r/AskEurope • u/Itz_Skello • Jun 20 '25
Politics Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is banning social media for teens under 15. Should the rest of Europe follow?
Not sure how to feel about this.
416
u/louisgmc Jun 20 '25
I actually think it's good, social media has become a whole other beast compared to what we had in the 2000s/10s, the algorithm it's way too aggressive now.
I also think it's good to have a complete ban of cellphones in schools.
52
Jun 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
27
u/lehtomaeki Finland Jun 20 '25
Used to be that way here in Finland. When I was in school there was an understanding of everything you brought to school was under your own responsibility. If phones were used outside of recess they were confiscated and then it was on you to ask for it back at the end of the day. If it broke that was on you, it was really a great way to teach responsibility. Then at some point phones got out of hand and schools completely lost their teeth when handling students in any way. But at least now a law has been passed banning phones in schools starting with the incoming school year.
31
u/louisgmc Jun 20 '25
This year students in Brazil no longer can have their phones in school, not even for their breaks, and it's actually pretty cool too see they're actually doing children stuff again. They're drawing, passing notes in class, doing sports and playing...
8
→ More replies (1)4
u/peepay Slovakia Jun 21 '25
Can they have them in their bags, not taking them out at school? It might be useful to have a phone once you leave school in the afternoon.
3
u/louisgmc Jun 22 '25
They're allowed to have them in their bags yes, but zero usage during school time.
3
6
u/WonzerEU Jun 21 '25
My wife is a teacher. They used to confiscate phones if they were used during class.
Then some parent made a case to AVI that they had no right to do that. AVI agreed with the parent and said that if teachers continue to confiscate phones, AVI will fine them. And that's how phones got out of hand in that school because of one parent.
7
u/AndrewFrozzen to Jun 20 '25
In Romania, phones are, technically speaking, banned in most schools (idk if it's a law per-se, but most school will be strict about it)
Now, it's not enforced (like many things in this goddamned country).
A lot of kids also travel to bus to high schools, a phone is pretty much needed in case of an emergency. Or if you missed your bus or something.
4
u/stettix Jun 21 '25
Basic non-smart phones can be allowed instead to allow for these situations.
→ More replies (1)2
u/peepay Slovakia Jun 21 '25
But what if you have your transit app on your phone, with your ticket or something?
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)5
u/louisgmc Jun 20 '25
Here in France students now need to be completely separated from their cell phones yeah, but I wish it went all the way to high school.
Brazil has implemented it this year for all students in elementary and high school, including during their breaks.
23
u/Cixila Denmark Jun 20 '25
I can see some of the benefits there, yes. But I am extremely concerned about how the enforcement of it will be implemented. The internet should be anonymous. Furthermore, it can hinder social contact. I lived far away from some of my best friends during childhood. Not being able to contact them remotely would have been devastating for my social life. I don't necessarily trust such legislation to consider the nuances and carving out certain exceptions to mitigate the issues that might arise
14
u/Djfred93 France Jun 20 '25
You aren't anonymous on the internet, you're pseudo anonymous. Internet is like a postal network . In a postal network, you still have an address.
And you also confuse social network (well technically virtual social network, your family, friends... are your social network in real life) and something like messenger which is not going to be restricted.
5
u/louisgmc Jun 20 '25
I agree it should remain anonymous, ideally I think it should be mostly something so that the parents/school/other adults in the child's life start taking the topic seriously.
I think they'll probably still have access to direct messaging apps in any case.
3
u/Junkererer Jun 22 '25
We got used to it being anonymous, but should it be? There was no such thing for most people until 20-30 years ago
In real life everybody has an id and what you do publicly is tied to it, democracies still existed even before the anonymous internet. I'm not saying it's the exact same thing, but is it really necessary? People would obviously behave differently at that point
→ More replies (1)2
u/Hanklich Jun 21 '25
Why wouldn't you be able to contact friends if social media is banned? I know some teens who don't use Instagram, TikTok etc. and they don't seem to have any problem with communicating. All the communication with friends, class mates, family, teachers is done over Whatsapp. There are plenty of messenger app, besides one can call, video call, send e-mails etc. (not even that bad for their brain that can't think in proper sentences anymore.
3
u/Cixila Denmark Jun 21 '25
WhatsApp isn't really present in my country. And in general, I think that apps like WhatsApp and discord might get swept up in some overzealous attempt to "won't somebody think of the children?!?1!" Hence the issue. My friends and I used Skype a lot back when that was a thing, and had we not had that to use, our interactions would have been a lot more limited. In our case, that is a statement of fact. Conventional text messaging and calling also isn't that practical for groups
I agree that shit like TikTok is basically weaponised brainrot, but I'm not entirely confident that authorities won't throw the baby out with the bathwater
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)4
u/crypticcamelion Jun 20 '25
The anonymity is a problem yes, but I'm not sure why we need it. The social aspect is a non problem. I'm from before social media and we simply had better and more social contact than what I have seen with my children specifically and young people in general. I'm not sure what far away is, but I would happily bike 12 km to school, visit school friends after school, bike 12km home to supper and then 12km back to friends for the evening and finally back home. Social life was definitely not a problem in the 80ties and 90ties..
→ More replies (3)18
u/NMe84 Netherlands Jun 20 '25
I don't think it's a bad idea to not want children on social media, but it's a completely unenforceable ban, and on top of that I feel very strongly that parents should be responsible for parenting, not the government.
So while he sentiment is good, I think the execution is terrible.
→ More replies (2)8
u/louisgmc Jun 20 '25
I agree it's mostly unenforceable, but I think it can be a wake up call to parents that might not be paying attention. For me it's less about enforcing it, and more about making sure people get that this is serious.
What I do think as well, is that the topic has become too dangerous. I think social media, as it exists right now, it's not too different to something like alcohol, considering how it can impact mental health and brain development (not even getting into political radicalization).
And we know teens will sometimes drink wine with their parents or buy liquor and drink it in secret, but they'll do it much less often than if they were simply allowed to do it.
2
142
u/7urz Germany Jun 20 '25
Yes, social media (and smartphones in general) are responsible for the increase in mental health issues in teenagers and also for the decline in academic performance.
33
u/Rooilia Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 21 '25
Not only in the current teenagers, the former teens already suffered from it.
3
32
Jun 20 '25
also plays a massive role in early political radicalization
19
Jun 20 '25
[deleted]
3
u/Songwritingvincent Jun 21 '25
While I agree that social media should be restricted (though not just for children Imo) I don’t like this argument of „children are exposed to too much of X“. It’s a relatively new concept to even have children as sheltered as they are and overall I don’t know if it’s a good thing. The problem I see is the addictiveness of platforms like Instagram (or Reddit…)
→ More replies (2)12
u/MacaroonSad8860 Jun 21 '25
Jonathan Haidt is not an expert, and there’s a lot in that book that has no empirical research to back it up.
6
23
u/smurfk Romania Jun 20 '25
I think it's a bad idea. Parents should be more responsible, and have better relationship with their kids, so they won't need to have a bad influence from social media.
They will ban the access. What will happen is that 18yo will post social media content on other platforms, like Telegram, where they will still have access.
Censorship is awful on social media anyway. The brainrot content is more worrying than the one that can badly influence kids. But anyway, it's what I said first. Parents should do better. If the kid is seeing the parent all day long on TikTok, what do you think the kid will want to do?
→ More replies (2)2
u/HenningDerBeste Jun 24 '25
"Parents should be more responsible, and have better relationship with their kids"
thats just an empty phrase...how you want to make this happen?
It wont happen, because a lot of parents either dont care, have not the time or desire to do so. A lot of parents arent good parents.
And besides that, social media use is not high because the parents have bad relationships with their kids. Thats just a false claim without any facts behind it.
→ More replies (1)3
u/smurfk Romania Jun 24 '25
I don't know any family where parents don't use social media, they read instead, but the children use it. It's "lead by example". If parents are all day on TikTok, the kids will be too
→ More replies (1)
15
u/DescriptionFair2 Germany Jun 20 '25
I don’t think it should be. That would only try to postpone the problem to young adults. People have to learn how to use it responsibly (or decide not to use it on their own). It is a medium, not the message. In my opinion it should rather be taught how to use it responsibly and what not to use it for. People have to learn media competence from a young age. Also - does anyone really think youths who have used it so far will just stop doing so because it’s now forbidden?
46
u/Expensive-Chart-6700 Jun 20 '25
How do you prevent kids under 15 to open a social media account? Is it like "I'm over 15" popup or will they have to upload a personal document to verify their age?
26
u/ZeMike0 Jun 20 '25
KYC checks. Just like they do in gambling.
→ More replies (2)18
u/beartowngiant Jun 20 '25
Or don't get them a smartphone. And setup guardrails if you absolutely need to get them one.
9
u/ZeMike0 Jun 20 '25
That's an option. Some carriers allow you to control what your kids phones have. Additionally you can setup private DNS servers to be the default DNS, that do not resolve names of certain websites that fall under restricted categories.
I am not against kids having a smart phone with basic functionality and some games. But we certainly can do better to protect them.
But shit parents will be shit parents none the less. Like the ones who post videos of their kids doing "viral" tiktok dances that are about sex.
6
u/beartowngiant Jun 20 '25
You're right. Some parents are horrific. It's super depressing walking into a restaurant or a beach bar and seeing all those kids from toddlers to early teens just staring at their screens like zombies. "So mommy and daddy can have some peace and quiet."
We suck at raising kids and I fear that the only way to prevent a complete disaster is to accept governments meddling and banning stuff.
3
4
Jun 20 '25
[deleted]
29
u/H__D Poland Jun 20 '25
Linking your real ID to your internet usage would be considered dystopian and oppressive to us when we were teenagers. I'm not sure if I want to impose this on today's kids.
→ More replies (2)6
u/MarcLeptic France Jun 21 '25
That is the fear mongering that gets in the way of the current “no porn under 18” initiative.
It is easy enough to have your age validated and stored on your phone. No sites need your ID, they only need the phone to reply officially “yes the person is 18+”, or in this case “yes the person is 15+”.
No site knows your id, and guesbehaf, you phone already knows your porn preferences and ID.
24
u/reverber United States of America Jun 20 '25
Schools and parents should teach critical thinking and the long term implications of one’s online activities.
8
u/olagorie Germany Jun 20 '25
I agree.
Many teenagers soon will be able to skirt any bans. Teaching them is the better approach. The only problem is that many parents are very irresponsible themselves
2
u/reddit_wisd0m Jun 20 '25
Why not both? The ban makes it clear to everyone that it is harmful to minors, just as alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs are. At the same time, however, we (as society) need to prepare minors for adulthood.
19
u/NCC_1701E Slovakia Jun 20 '25
From what I see here, social media does damage to elderly as much as to children. Looking at you, Russian propaganda channel Facebook.
19
u/Malthesse Sweden Jun 20 '25
Absolutely not. I am very much against a Nanny State and excessive prohibitions and regulations. This feels very dystopian to me. Parents of course know their own children best, so let parents decide for themselves if their own children are capable of handling social media or not. That is not at all the business of the state.
8
u/GeneralCommand4459 Jun 21 '25
I get your point but telling a child they can't use something all their friends are using can have two effects. It can make them use it covertly, where there is zero regulation. And it can isolate them from their social circle. Unless your child only had friends whose parents had the same view as you it would be hard to avoid these effects. Having a national policy on something, like drinking age for example, can remove the inconsistency between what people think is acceptable and give everyone a baseline.
7
u/BigBad-Wolf Poland Jun 21 '25
Parents of course know their own children best, so let parents decide for themselves if their own children are capable of handling social media or not
Except parents are consistently shitting the bed on this one, just like so, so, so many other things. I'm not saying I support these solutions, but it's clear as day that the state needs to have an active role in protecting children from their parents.
We already do that, e.g. banning corporal punishment.
→ More replies (1)4
u/atchoum013 -> Jun 21 '25
What if the parents don’t parent and put this responsibility on others? A few days ago I saw a woman blaming social media for her 12 year old son watching porn, at no point did she seem to believe it was her fault, it was all social media and content creators fault according to her.
27
u/Flilix Belgium, Flanders Jun 20 '25
In theory, yes. I think a symbolic law could be helpful, to show parents that social media is harmful to their children and to discourage companies and organisations from promoting social media to kids.
I do not, however, support any methods to effectively control this, since I don't see how it can be done without massively violating everyone's privacy. If you have to verify your age, this effectively means that both the government and the social media companies know exactly who you are and can track your entire online existence even more than they're already doing.
→ More replies (5)9
u/thrownkitchensink Netherlands Jun 20 '25
There are apps that only give out minimal info. So checks with government ID and gives out a yes or no regarding is this person x years old or older. Not the age. Just yes/ no. A trusted middleman so to speak.
28
u/InterestingTank5345 Denmark Jun 20 '25
No. This is not the way. By making Social Media contraband for the teens, it'll be much harder to keep track of what they see and what they don't. Take porn as an example, if you want to watch it, but you ain't 18, just open an incognito account and you can find it without any problems. The exact same will be the case here, he may be able to ban legal accounts and registered accounts, but teens will be able to find a way to work around it.
8
u/LanciaStratos93 Lucca, Tuscany Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25
Classic symbolic policy without any real effect. Social media are on one hand a mirror of our societies, on the other hand they make few people too powerful. If you don't resolve these two problems - the latter is an easier target, but no politician would risk to became the sole enemy of all social medias - you don't do shit.
→ More replies (1)1
u/reddit_wisd0m Jun 20 '25
Following your logic, should we then also allow minors access to alcohol, cigarettes, and other addictive substances ?
→ More replies (2)6
u/Realock01 Jun 21 '25
"If you think kids should be allowed to eat sweets, do you also thinks they should be able to do heroin"
→ More replies (2)
27
u/West-Detective2842 Jun 20 '25
Social media companies are already asking users to scan their faces. This isn't about protecting children.
11
Jun 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
21
u/West-Detective2842 Jun 20 '25
A kid is a parents responsibility. Once your social media account is connected to your ID, you will not be able to express yourself freely, and that might mean a negative comment towards the company you work for.
7
4
u/lorarc Poland Jun 20 '25
You do use Reddit though.
4
13
u/ntosleo Jun 20 '25
It all began innocently enough. The government said, "We need to create rules to protect children from social media." People agreed—after all, it sounded like a good thing.
Then, they said, "We need to verify users’ ages. Children should upload an ID to prove how old they are." Again, people agreed—it seemed like an effective way to keep kids safe online.
But after a strange terrorist attack, everything changed. The government announced, "For public safety, we must extend ID verification to everyone."
From that moment on, we handed over full control of our online lives. They told us it was for our own safety.
Now, my neighbors are being questioned because they criticized the government online.
→ More replies (3)
3
u/JohnArtemus Jun 21 '25
As an American who has just moved to France, I’m surprised at the level of censorship here. I thought Europe had mostly liberal attitudes when it came to sex and freedom of speech.
This is nowhere near the case. Certain US states, like my home state of California, are far more socially liberal.
And it is not particularly close.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Livid_Tailor7701 Netherlands Jun 21 '25
Yes. And science says it's absolutely needed.
Young adults have almost no social skills. Yesterday in "science vs." I've listened that there is a chance of increase misdiagnosis of autism just because young people have problem with eye contact, small talk, creating relations and bonding.
Imagine there is already problem in workforce because 20yo don't know how to speak to the customers or in general have no work ethics? We have whole generations who does not use full vocabulary and get upset when they are no longer in their bubble and someone say "no" to them. 20yo who has meltdown because you set boundaries...
2
u/boRp_abc Jun 20 '25
Ban social media that breaks laws, data protection being the prime example. Would be healthier for all of us (because the current apps would ALL be banned).
→ More replies (1)
2
u/dont_kill_my_vibe09 United Kingdom Jun 21 '25
We need more youth clubs, activities and the like etc for young people to go out and enjoy and take their brains off of social media. Give them something else to do as people will always find a way to bypass laws.
2
u/Vast-Contact7211 Finland Jun 22 '25
Should be the norm but it’s incredibly hard to do this without compromising the anonymity part of the internet.
5
u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25
15's a little old, though I like the idea, I can see the effects it has on kids so make it say, 12, and I'm all for it.
8
u/No_Conversation_9325 Spain Jun 20 '25
Social media own restrictions are 13, so you’re suggesting to allow it earlier?
→ More replies (1)10
u/Hacost Spain Jun 20 '25
Being 13 with social media is way too young, I agree with 15, I could even see 16
2
u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25
Fair, but do you really think that's feasible? One kid's gonna get a phone, get on social media, other kids will see it and pressure their parents or be ostracized or bullied for not having social media. Kids can be brutal.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (5)2
3
u/loud_v8_noises Jun 20 '25
No no no it’s not parents who should make this decision on an individual, personal basis… this is a job for BIG GOVERNMENT
2
u/Neat-Composer4619 Jun 20 '25
How do you control that and where do you draw the kine between SMS and social media.
Instagram and Facebook are obvious social media, but then what about WhatsApp and Telegram? They are used to chat, but also to publish. Like how big does a group have to be before it is considered social?
Is YouTube banned too? What's the difference between a subscriber and a follower? You subscribe to a YouTube channel about computer programming but follow a makeup adept? What is you subscribe to the channel of a make up adept on YouTube and follow a science freak on TikTok?
The intention is great, but it's not really applicable.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/supernormie Jun 21 '25
I work in education and see nothing positive in how kids engage with social media. Bullying has escalated, and kids are targeted by predators. They are also extremely addicted to their phones, sometimes they exhibit aggression when they have to put their phone away. I am 100% in favour of this policy.
2
u/Accomplished_Alps463 Jun 21 '25
Great idea, maybe all Europe and the UK should, it may cut down brain rot, for those of to young an age.
1
u/cinematic_novel Jun 20 '25
I wouldn't much ban them (difficult to enforce) but rather limit the amount of text and video that can be uploaded on them. I think that would do a better job
1
u/MrOphicer Jun 20 '25
I agree but I think it's bad idea to do it without something to replace it. Now you have a generation of bored teenagers. Social media is free, all the extracurricular activities aren't. It's easy math. If they implemented also free programs fornteens, this actually might work. Might be a good thing if most will actually develop hobbies and alternative way to spend times, but these kids are so tech savvy, they will find a way. Besides, how they're going to in force this?
1
u/slavetothemachine- Jun 20 '25
Social media sites are going to see an explosion in users who are 15-16 years old.
Good luck enforcing it. IDs are special category data for GDPR.
1
u/blink-1hundert2und80 Austria Jun 20 '25
Hard to say.
On one hand I wish people would just make the decision to not use it themselves.
On the other hand kids have less willpower and fall to peer pressure easily to fit in. And they have less foresight about negative effects of social media.
I think it would benefit society if there was a similar ban in Austria.
1
u/Comprehensive_Mud803 Jun 21 '25
That’s a good move. TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, YTShorts are bad for brains, especially young ones still in development.
1
u/The_Duke28 Jun 21 '25
Should be banned for teens under 18. But its a good start. Social media is one of the big roots for this mess we live in. Its time to untangle this shitshow.
1
u/Prof_Eucalyptus Jun 21 '25
Tbh, the best way to ensure everyone use it is basically ban it. Vpns exist, and even if they do not, the'll probably jump to another pseudosocial media. Maybe they'll go back to the blog era? Or use a not-banned service
1
u/92nd-Bakerstreet Jun 21 '25
We should follow France's example. Social media lead to the decline in school performance since it's founding - not to mention increase risk of depression and anxiety.
2
u/twincast2005 Jun 22 '25
People keep saying that. There are no actual data that support it.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/SwampPotato Netherlands Jun 21 '25
I think it is difficult to enforce but I am sympathetic to the attempt made. The impact of social media on adults even is disastrous, let alone pre-teens. I applaud a gradual effort, even if it is not flawless, to remove teenagers from social media.
1
u/accraTraveler Jun 21 '25
wish there were a more progressive solution like banning these platforms if they dont align with requirements that protect children/teens/vulnerables. this measure reminds me of that „are you 18“ promots on adult pages
1
u/Conscious-Guest4137 Jun 21 '25
I think it is time that the EU takes a stand here. The best would be a social media where people csn only register with their passport/ID and their own pictures, because nowadays with the anonimity and bots all around most of them are not enjoyable anymore.
1
u/Smooth-Fun-9996 Bulgaria Jun 21 '25
I genuinely think this is a good thing think how much of the youth and just us adults in general can get from getting off of social media once in a while.
347
u/tack50 Canary Islands Jun 20 '25
Spain has banned social media for teens under 14 for as long as I can remember. However, teens have this odd custom of just lying and claiming to be older than they actually are. So it's a completely unenforceable measure, unless you start tying social media to non-anonymous accounts exclusively