Social media: France’s Constitutional Court overturns the ban on use by children under 15

The French Constitutional Council has struck down the ban on the use of social media by children under the age of 15 in France, ruling that the measure constitutes a “disproportionate restriction” on their freedom of expression.
The constitutional judges ruled that Article 1 of the law aimed at protecting minors from the risks associated with the use of social media entails a restriction on the freedom of expression and communication of under-15s that “is not appropriate, necessary or proportionate”. As it was called upon to rule exclusively on Article 1, the Constitutional Council did not comment on the ban on the use of mobile phones in secondary schools from 1 September, as provided for in the same law.