NextFin news, Paris — On Thursday, a French parliamentary commission investigating the psychological effects of TikTok and other social media platforms proposed banning social media access for children under 15 and introducing a "digital curfew" for users aged 15 to 18, making social media unavailable between 10pm and 8am.
The commission, launched in March 2025 following lawsuits by seven families against TikTok, cited concerns about the addictive design of TikTok's algorithm, which has been copied by other platforms, and its impact on youth mental health. The families accused TikTok of exposing their children to harmful content that encouraged self-harm and suicide.
Laure Miller, a French lawmaker and rapporteur of the commission, said the ban would send a clear signal to children and parents that social media use before age 15 is not harmless. She emphasized that the ban is one of many measures needed to protect young users.
The commission heard testimony from bereaved families, including Geraldine, a 52-year-old mother who lost her 18-year-old daughter Penelope to suicide in February 2024. Geraldine discovered that Penelope had posted and viewed self-harm content on TikTok. She criticized TikTok's insufficient content moderation, which she said deepened her daughter's distress.
TikTok executives, representing the Chinese company ByteDance, told the commission that the platform uses AI-enhanced moderation, which removed 98% of content violating its terms of service in France last year. However, lawmakers found these efforts insufficient and TikTok's rules easy to circumvent, with harmful content continuing to proliferate.
The report also recommended that if social media platforms fail to comply with European digital regulations within three years, the ban could extend to all users under 18.
President Emmanuel Macron's office has expressed support for banning social media use among children and young adolescents, aligning with similar moves in countries like Australia, which is drafting a law to ban social media for those under 16.
The commission's recommendations come amid growing scrutiny of TikTok's impact on vulnerable youth, with studies showing that distressed young users are disproportionately exposed to content related to suicide and self-harm. The European Union opened an investigation into TikTok's protection of minors in February 2024.
The parliamentary inquiry received cross-party support, with Socialist lawmaker Arthur Delaporte describing TikTok as a "dopamine slot machine" designed to hook young users.
The commission's report was published on Thursday, September 11, 2025, in Paris, France.
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