Signal France's social media law reaches enforceable date amid universal ID-check mandate

Summary

France's parliament passed a sweeping social media law on July 21, 2026, with the Senate voting 243-2 and the National Assembly voting 279-81 with 66 abstentions. The law bars children under 15 from opening new social media accounts starting September 1, 2026, and requires platforms to identify and suspend existing underage accounts from January 1, 2027. It mandates universal age and identity verification for all French social media users, who may need to submit government ID, undergo biometric facial-age estimation, or use a European digital identity wallet. Under EU procedure France could not enforce the law before August 10, 2026, and deputies have referred it to the Constitutional Council for a ruling within one month. The law also extends existing school cellphone bans to high schools.