French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his support for legislation that would ban children under the age of 11 from using smartphones, The Telegraph reported Wednesday. Macron has also pushed for prohibiting minors under 15 from using social media.
A commission of experts recently submitted a report to Macron that studied the effects of social media on young people, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Video Shows Biden Wander Away As World Leaders Attempt To Corral Him)
Macron backs ban on smartphones use for under 11s https://t.co/S0PTLHH2vh
— Ilan Hulkower (@IHulkower) June 14, 2024
“All the experts say that screen addiction is the breeding ground for all kinds of problems: harassment, violence, dropping out of school,” Macron said at a press conference Wednesday, according to The Telegraph.
Macron, however, could soon lose the legislative initiative after the recent European Parliament elections saw an increase in representation for right-wing nationalist parties. The National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen, who Macron defeated in the 2022 presidential election, secured 31.5 percent of the vote, more than double what Macron’s party received. In response, Macron called snap legislative elections, which could to a right-wing prime minister and parliamentary majority. In such cases of “co-habitation,” when the prime minister and president are from different parties, the PM typically sets the domestic policy agenda.
The practicalities of actually implementing a policy to block minors’ access to social media remains a topic of debate, The Telegraph reported. “Technically, the government could ask applications to block access after a certain time,” Olivier Ertzscheid, a lecturer in information and communication sciences, told AFP in January, the outlet noted. “This type of measure would be unprecedented in a democratic European country.”
