The French Parliament has approved a law to raise the minimum age for accessing social networks to 15. We are talking about a choice that several countries are making: the first was Australia. In Italy the threshold for access is still 13 years.
The law has also arrived in France. Parliament approved theraising the minimum age for accessing social mediawith a favorable vote in both the Senate and the National Assembly. The threshold to access these platforms is now set at 15 years. The newspaper Le Monde reported the comment of Emmanuel MacronPresident of the Republic: “This is a big step forward. France is at the forefront in Europe in the protection of our children and young people. We will continue on this path.” France is just the latest case of a trend we have been seeing for some time. The starting point was Australia, which in December 2025 had established a ban on the use of social media under the age of 16.
The UK is also now moving to a squeeze which not only provides for the blocking of social media for children under 16 but also more restrictive rules such as the ban on accessing platforms at night (between midnight and six in the morning) for users who have between 16 and 18 years old. Not only that, Europe has also begun to move. In recent days the European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen said: “We need to consider gradual and staggered access for different age groups.”
Certain. The point is always to understand if these restrictions work. The New York Times dedicated a report to the case of Australia where it was also highlighted that a large part of the users affected by the ban managed to return without too many problems. A report published by Australia’s eSafety Commission explained that seven out of ten users who should be subject to restriction are still on social media. Among the methods worth mentioning to get around the restrictions there is also that of draw a mustache on your face so as to fool all systems.
Valditara insists on the social ban on Under 15s but the law is firm: doubts about privacy and age verification
The law in Italy: the words of Minister Valditara
In Italy there are several legislative proposals on the topic. The age limit taken into consideration is the same as in France: we are talking about 15 years. The Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara he spoke about it again in recent days: “I absolutely agree with banning social media under 15s. We encouraged Parliament to quickly approve the bipartisan bill. We must hurry because the issue is too urgent.”
Among the proposals on the table is the Mennuni-Madia law (DDL 1136): Marianna Madia she is a deputy who is currently part of Italia Viva while Lavinia Mennuni she is a senator for the Brothers of Italy. We leave you the complete text here. In general, there are starting to be several voices dedicated to the regulation of social media. Lorenzo Basso and Antonio Nicita, both senators of the PD, presented a proposal to reduce social media addiction. Just today the Ferragni DDL came into force which, among other things, introduces clearer transparency obligations for creators.
