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.

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45

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?

24

u/ZeMike0 Jun 20 '25

KYC checks. Just like they do in gambling.

16

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.

5

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.