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France reportedly planning to ban children under 15 from social media starting 2026
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France is planning to ban children under 15 from social media and to restrict cellphone use in high schools starting next year, local media Le Monde reported on Tuesday.
The proposal aims to curb excessive screen time and shield minors from online risks such as inappropriate content. President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly cited social media as a contributing factor to violence among young people.
«Many studies and reports now confirm the various risks caused by excessive use of digital screens by adolescents,» a draft law stated, according to Le Monde.
The document added that children with unrestrained access online have been exposed to «inappropriate content» and could suffer from cyber-harassment or experience changes to their sleep patterns, according to the outlet.
AFTER AUSTRALIA PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN, LAWMAKERS PROBED ON WHY CONGRESS HASN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT KIDS
President Emmanuel Macron is planning to ban social media use among children under 15 years old. (TERESA SUAREZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The proposal follows Australia’s lead after the country introduced a world-first ban on social media for children under 16 years old in December, restricting access to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
Macron is aiming for Parliament to debate the proposal in January, with a potential start date of September next year, according to the local outlet.
In June, Macron said he wanted to push for similar regulations across the European Union (EU), following a fatal school stabbing in eastern France that shocked the nation in April, Reuters reported.
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A 13-year-old girl is using her smartphone in a dark room. (iStock)
Macron has previously taken numerous steps to protect minors digitally. However, technical challenges, including EU legal constraints and weak enforcement, have limited the effectiveness of such measures.
Cellphones have already been banned in French elementary and middle schools since 2018, according to Le Monde.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese enacted a world-first social media ban in December, barring children under 16 from using major platforms. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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In 2023, France reportedly attempted to pass a law calling for a «digital legal age,» which required parental consent for social media users under 15 years old. The law, however, was blocked by EU regulations.
In November, the European Parliament urged the EU to set minimum social media ages to tackle adolescent mental health issues, though final decisions rest with its member states, Reuters reported.
france,kids,regulation,world
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The United States is warning Peru that China’s growing control over a major Pacific port could threaten the country’s sovereignty, escalating tensions over Beijing’s expanding footprint in Latin America.
The concern centers on the $1.3 billion deep-water port in Chancay, north of Lima, which has become a flashpoint between Washington and Beijing after a Peruvian court ruling limited government regulatory oversight of the project.
The State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on social media that it was «concerned about latest reports that Peru could be powerless to oversee Chancay, one of its largest ports, which is under the jurisdiction of predatory Chinese owners,» adding: «We support Peru’s sovereign right to oversee critical infrastructure in its own territory. Let this be a cautionary tale for the region and the world: cheap Chinese money costs sovereignty.»
CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION WARNS CHINA’S PACIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS COULD POSE A MILITARY THREAT
A drone view shows cranes and containers at the new megaport being built by China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping, promising to shorten sea routes to Asia for Peruvian and some Brazilian goods, in Chancay, Peru Oct. 24, 2024. (Angela Ponce/Reuters)
China’s foreign ministry rejected the comments as «rumor-mongering and smearing» and insisted the project remains under Peruvian authority, according to The Associated Press report.
Asia analyst Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital: «Chancay is so central that analysts say it will redirect trade across the South Pacific. We know Beijing considers ports to be dual-use and strategic. China, held up the BlackRock deal to acquire the CK Hutchinson port operations in the Panama Canal Zone even though the ports are nowhere near China itself.»
«In times of war, China will not allow its port operations to load, unload, or service American ships or ships coming from or going to U.S. ports,» he warned.
Jack Burnham, senior analyst in the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the port reflects a broader strategic push by Beijing in the region.
SOUTH AMERICAN LEADER DEFIES TRUMP’S ‘DONROE DOCTRINE’ IN BOLD CHINA PIVOT TOWARD XI
Workers stand next to cranes at the new megaport being built by China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping, in Chancay, Peru. Oct. 24, 2024. (Angela Ponce/Reuters)
«The Chancay port is a keystone in China’s investment in Latin America — its size and proximity provide a bridge across the Pacific and access to another market to fuel Beijing’s export-driven economic engine,» Burnham said.
«China’s investment in Peru is predicated on Beijing grasping the sinews of Lima’s critical infrastructure to gain influence. With effective control over the port cemented for now by a lower Peruvian court ruling, China gains access to one of the largest critical infrastructure projects in the region, a position from which it could exercise significant control.»
The dispute comes as Washington and Beijing compete for influence across Latin America, where China has expanded investment through infrastructure projects and trade, analysts say.
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Fishing boats are anchored in the bay near the new megaport being built by China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping, in Chancay, Peru Oct. 24, 2024. (Angela Ponce/Reuters)
China’s state-owned shipping giant Cosco, which holds a majority stake in the project, dismissed U.S. concerns and said the court ruling «in no way involves aspects of sovereignty,» adding that Peruvian authorities still oversee security, environmental compliance and customs, according to The Associated Press.
Peru’s transport infrastructure regulator, Ositran, has said it plans to appeal the ruling, arguing the port should not be exempt from the same oversight applied to other major facilities.
China’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not provide a comment in time for publication.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
china,state department,latin america,trade,national security
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A partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is all but guaranteed unless the Senate rams through a short-term extension of current funding levels sometime on Thursday.
But avoiding a DHS shutdown means the same measure must also pass the House of Representatives, where success will depend on delicate political maneuvering by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to persuade a House Republican Conference with varying ideas of what a path forward should look like.
«It would have to be for 60 or 90 days, I would think,» said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. «I don’t know what’s going to happen in 30 days, I don’t know what’s going to change.»
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to unveil a stopgap funding measure for DHS called a continuing resolution (CR), which would extend the department’s current budget for a yet-unknown amount of time.
ICE SHUTDOWN FIGHT MIGHT RESTRICT FEMA, COAST GUARD TO ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ EMERGENCIES
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., gestures as he meets with reporters ahead of a key procedural vote to end the partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
It comes after Democrats walked away en masse from a bipartisan deal to fund DHS through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026 over what they saw as insufficient guardrails on agencies responsible for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
Congress has funded 97% of the federal government through FY2026 at this point. But DHS is a vast department with a broad jurisdiction that includes the U.S. Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — all of which will see varying levels of disruptions if a shutdown happens.
Republicans largely want to avoid such a situation but have made clear they believe that its effects would fall squarely on Democrats’ shoulders.
DEMOCRATS SPLIT ON SHIELDING COAST GUARD, SECRET SERVICE AS DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT NEARS
Conservatives like Norman favor an extended CR, arguing that it would fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a higher level than the initial bipartisan funding deal would have while removing Democrats’ negotiating leverage for more guardrails on those agents.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital last week that he would support a full-year CR for DHS to «make sure that FEMA is funded and TSA is funded, and stop the drama.»
Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., similarly said on Wednesday, «I think we’d like to push it out as far as we can so we can avoid the constant uncertainty for the agency.»
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
THUNE BLASTS JEFFRIES, SCHUMER AS ‘AFRAID OF THEIR SHADOWS’ AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT HEATS UP
«As long as this hangs up in the air, let’s say you do it for three, four months, the Democrats are gonna want a pound of flesh to help pass whatever it is. And I think that’s gonna weaken the efforts of … immigration enforcement,» Crane told Fox News Digital.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters earlier this week that he would favor a mid-length CR over something shorter.
«If we do two weeks and they leave for a week, it’s really a one-week CR. Nothing’s going to happen when that many important people are gone. So I think four weeks makes a lot more sense,» Cole said.
But committee member Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., panned the idea of a CR altogether.
«CRs don’t work. CRs are not without pain. It disrupts a lot of your supply chain and purchasing and acquisition,» he told Fox News Digital. «I can’t believe they’re even thinking about it.»
Rutherford, a former sheriff, argued that a shutdown or CR would harm critical national security operations during a year that’s expected to see a host of high-security events in the U.S. like America’s 250th anniversary celebration, the FIFA World Cup, and others.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., prepares for a hearing in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Johnson declined to share his thoughts on CR length when asked by Fox News Digital on Tuesday, but emphasized the House GOP’s position that the Senate should take up the bipartisan bill that Democrats initially walked away from.
«I’m not going to prejudge the length of it or what it should be. I’m very hopeful. I mean, we still have time on the clock. When there’s a will, there’s a way. And if they can come to an agreement on this and get it done, that will behoove the whole country,» Johnson said.
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House GOP leaders will likely need nearly all Republicans on board to pass a CR for DHS, with many Democrats warning they will not support any funding for the department without seeing proof of critical reform.
Jeffries would not go into specifics about what he would support or oppose in terms of DHS funding during his weekly press conference on Monday, but he suggested to reporters that a simple stopgap funding bill with no changes to ICE funding was out of the question.
«ICE is out of control right now. The American people know it, and ICE clearly needs to be reined in,» Jeffries said. «Our position has been clear. Dramatic changes are needed at the Department of Homeland Security before a DHS funding bill moves forward. Period. Full stop.»
house of representatives politics,politics,government shutdown,homeland security
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