PARIS — Emmanuel Macron secured a signature second-term victory Tuesday after France’s parliament approved a law barring children under 15 from using social media.

“I had promised to do this, and it has now been passed: social media will be banned for under-15s when the new school year begins,” the French president wrote on X.

The move means France will become the first EU country to introduce such a ban. From Sept. 1, platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat will be required to implement age-verification tools to prevent children under 15 from accessing their services.

Lawmakers on Monday finalized the legislation after agreeing to amend it so that the European Commission will oversee key aspects of its implementation. The change, required to ensure compliance with EU law, clears the way for the measure to take effect by the end of August.

For Macron, this week’s social media milestone marks the culmination of a years-long political campaign.

Throughout his presidency, episodes of unrest — from the 2018 nationwide Yellow Jackets protests to the riots that followed the police shooting of teenager Nahel Merzouk in 2023 — reinforced the French president’s conviction that social media had fueled polarization.

The issue became personal when the president and his family were targeted by repeated online attacks, including false rumors about his marriage and cyberbullying directed at first lady Brigitte Macron.

In spring 2024, Macron appointed an expert commission to assess the impact of screens on children’s development. Despite governing without a parliamentary majority, Macron judged that regulating social media was one of the few issues capable of attracting broad political support.

“He has made it an issue just as important as the bill on end-of-life care or the defense budget,” Laurent Marcangeli, a Horizons lawmaker who backed the legislation, said.

Internationally, too, Macron positioned himself as one of Europe’s leading advocates for age restrictions on social media.

“Many have followed our lead … It’s important, because the more of us [countries imposing limits] there are, the more effective we are in dealing with the platforms,” a presidential aide said, granted anonymity to discuss the Elysée’s thinking.

‘Macron was getting impatient’

Macron faced political battles in his quest to get the ban done — including in his own political circles. In late 2025, former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who’s now a candidate in the 2027 presidential election, made this one of his priorities.

While Attal’s relationship with Macron grew cold, the premier claimed ownership of the issue, organizing public events across France and promoting a bill introduced by Renaissance lawmaker Laure Miller in the National Assembly.

Another tough battle came in the country’s Senate, where lawmakers had spent years working on online child protection and wanted to be closely involved in shaping the country’s measures.

Rather than opposing the measure politically, senators challenged it on legal grounds, arguing that parts of the bill could be unconstitutional — concerns backed by an opinion from France’s Council of State, the highest administrative court and legal adviser on government bills.

“The Élysée wanted to push its bill through before Sept. 1, and Macron was getting impatient, without giving a thought to any potential appeals to the European Commission or the Constitutional Council,” a senior Senate official said, speaking anonymously to discuss internal deliberations.

Senators eventually buckled after Prime Minister’s Office officials smoothed things over with informal suggestions by the Council of State that it wouldn’t strike down the version of the bill passed this week.

Macron’s Sept. 1 deadline now puts the pressure on industry and regulators alike.

“We’re rushing this through completely,” said an executive at a major digital platform, granted anonymity to disclose internal thinking. They argued that the systems are technically complex, the timetable is unrealistic and the rules will require users to submit sensitive personal information to verify their age.

The French government has set up another meeting with platforms on July 23 to discuss how to meet the demands on age verification.

The Brussels connection

Macron also found an unexpected ally in European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

France, alongside Greece and Spain, had been urging Brussels since May 2025 to establish a Europe-wide “digital majority” setting a minimum age for social media access. Momentum gathered after Denmark and Italy backed the idea, while Germany launched an expert review on the issue.

The EU’s own expert panel, appointed by von der Leyen late last year, published its report on July 13, recommending that only children aged 13 and older use social media for limited periods and under parental supervision.

Von der Leyen subsequently pledged EU action banning children under 13 from accessing not only social media but also other online social spaces, including chatbots and some video game services.

The announcement significantly strengthened France’s position. The French law, which has “limited legal scope,” will ultimately “need to be reinforced by European legislation,” Laurent Lafon, the centrist chair of the Senate’s Culture Committee, wrote on X.

France had succeeded in “making its priority a European one” and “convincing the Commission that a European initiative was appropriate,” a French government official said, granted anonymity to discuss the government’s thinking.

Sarah Paillou and Elisa Bertholomey contributed to this article.

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