Between thunderous statements widely relayed in the media and the reality of their implementation, where do we stand on the government measures to regulate screens and social media announced under President Emmanuel Macron ?
For several years now, there has hardly been a season without a government commission on screens and young people. Each sets out its recommendations, but from screens banned for under-3s to social media banned for under-18s, by way of a ban on smartphones before 13, which measures have actually been taken ? Because everyone gets lost in all this – me first of all ! – I felt like putting this little overview down on paper.
1. The law of 3 August 2018 (article L.511-5 of the Education Code)
It bans the use of mobile phones in primary and middle schools. But the whole question is: how should this law be applied ? Until now, schools generally laid down in their internal rules that mobiles had to stay in bags and not appear in class.
2. July 2023 : the law on the digital age of majority
The digital age of majority at 15 was voted in July 2023, but there are still no implementing decrees. This measure sought to make parents more accountable by reminding them that they own their children’s personal data and must therefore give their authorisation for any disclosure the children might make of it. In practice, it meant requiring platforms not to be content with children signing up, which very often happens from the age of eight or nine, even though they claim to be older, and to force them to develop a system in which legal guardians would have to authorise the registration of any minor under 15. So far, implementation has not been possible because it was judged incompatible with European law, and also because it raises the technical problem of verifying the real age of the person signing up.
3. April 2024 : the report “Enfants et écrans, à la recherche du temps perdu” (Children and screens, in search of lost time)
To date, only one measure has been taken, by an order of July 2025. It concerns the ban on any exposure to screens for children under 3 in early-childhood care facilities (nurseries, childminders, etc.). Actually putting the recommendations in place in all local authorities, schools and care facilities should take time, with local adaptations. On the other hand, extending this ban to the family setting runs up against a problem of feasibility and enforcement.
All the other recommendations have, to date, no basis in law. As a reminder, they were:
• A ban on mobile phones before the age of 11
• Waiting until 13 for phones with internet access, but still without social media or illegal content
• Reserving access to social media for over-15s, and only to so-called “ethical” social networks
• Limiting the system features of platforms / services designed to capture attention in an addictive way, and strengthening children’s protection against inappropriate content
4. April 2025 : the TikTok Commission
The TikTok Commission’s recommendations, which largely repeat those of the 2024 report, have so far no legal basis:
• A ban on social media for under-15s, with parental consent required before that age (the law on the digital age of majority at 15 was indeed voted in 2023, but there are no implementing decrees to date)
• A digital curfew for 15-18 year-olds (social media inaccessible from 10 pm to 8 am)
• Mobile phones with internet access only from age 13, but still without social media
• An offence of digital negligence for parents
• Measuring platforms’ compliance with their obligations (age verification, algorithm transparency, effective moderation, etc.)
5. September 2025 : Elisabeth Borne, Minister of National Education, announces the extension of the “Portable en pause” (Phone on pause) scheme to all middle schools
The “Portable en pause” scheme was trialled at the start of the 2024 school year in about a hundred middle schools with around 50,000 pupils, with smartphones deposited in lockers or pouches in the morning and collected at the end of the day. But despite last term’s ministerial announcements, rolling out the scheme everywhere requires investment: lockers or bags to secure the phones, staff to allow or supervise the deposit…
So what has changed ? Nothing, in fact ! Even though the measure has been law since 2018, the precise arrangements (where to leave the phone, sanctions, exceptions) remain to be set through schools’ internal rules.
A small suggestion…
Rather than multiplying commissions on young people and screens, which all reach more or less the same findings, isn’t it time to concentrate on the feasibility of measures? We could thus distinguish public health recommendations from legal bans, where these appear desirable and possible, and listen to young people to better understand good practices, which do exist, and encourage them!
MNC
