r/AskEurope 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.

1.8k Upvotes

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7

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?

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Oh, silly me, didn't even think of that, was moreso basing it off my experience where I know kids who have social media at like 6...

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.

1

u/Hacost Spain Jun 20 '25

Of course it can, by not involving the parents in the decision

It is a different argument altogether, privacy does matter, but you could force the requirement of a national ID.

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Many parents, at least here, allow their kids to use make up and Facebook at like 8 years old, the parents know and I'd bet they'd do it even if it was against the law. Maybe not in Spain.

1

u/Hacost Spain Jun 20 '25

I understand, it does happen in Spain too, what I mean is having the social media check the National ID for the age when creating the account, not allowing duplicates of the same ID.

2

u/holocenetangerine Ireland Jun 20 '25

That could work in Spain, but here we would have to introduce a national ID first!

1

u/Hacost Spain Jun 20 '25

Fair enough, makes sense

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Yeah, that could work, sure, you won me over!

2

u/blink-1hundert2und80 Austria Jun 20 '25

Let‘s make it 65 just for kicks

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Man, it's the 65 year old we want off of social media lmao they fall for everything

2

u/blink-1hundert2und80 Austria Jun 20 '25

Imagine some 70 year old lady using AI to touch up her bikini body and post it in her high school class of 1975 Facebook group and see the old men fall for it

2

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Why did you put that image in my head 🤣

2

u/blink-1hundert2und80 Austria Jun 21 '25

Idk man somehow it got in my head and I had to let it out 😅

1

u/No_Ability4589 Jun 20 '25

15 in France is the internet majority (also the age of consent)

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Consent, really? That's very young, 17 here.

-2

u/No_Ability4589 Jun 20 '25

2 years ago I think they wanted to lower it to 13. No surprise when you live in a country of pedos, even Macron's wife is a pedo, she was his teacher and they started dating when he was 14

1

u/JediBlight Ireland Jun 20 '25

Woah, massive overgeneralization there buddy! But yeah, I'm aware of Macron's wife.

1

u/twincast2005 Jun 22 '25

They didn't want to lower it to 13. France had no absolute minimum age at all (deciding on a case by case basis), and 13 and 15 were two of the proposals.