FRANCE has approved a Bill banning children under 15 from using social media, paving the way for the measure to come into force at the start of the next school year in September.

It comes as support grows across Europe for age limits on online platforms.

The Bill, which also bans mobile phone use in secondary schools, was adopted late Monday by 130 votes to 21.

President Emmanuel Macron has asked for the legislation to be fast-tracked and it will now go before the Senate in the coming weeks.

“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Mr Macron said.

France has already banned phone use in primary and middle schools, and the new law has been designed to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act. European lawmakers have previously called for a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 and bans on the most harmful online practices.

France’s health watchdog has warned of the risks posed by social media, reporting that one in two teenagers spends between two and five hours a day on smartphones. It cited links to reduced self-esteem and increased exposure to content associated with self-harm, drug use and suicide.

The ban will not apply to online encyclopaedias, educational platforms or open-source software sites.

The move comes amid growing global scrutiny of social media companies.

In Australia, millions of child accounts have been removed since a similar ban was introduced, while in the United States Meta’s Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube face lawsuits over claims their platforms deliberately harm children.