What new French laws regulate social media platforms for national security as of 2025?
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Executive summary
France’s 2024-25 push to regulate social media focuses chiefly on age limits, platform duties to remove illegal content, and stronger national enforcement of EU rules: the SREN law (Law to Secure and Regulate the Digital Space) transposes the EU Digital Services and Markets Acts into French practice and empowers regulators to require age verification, temporary account bans for convicted hate-speakers and takedowns of illegal content [1] [2]. President Macron and ministers have publicly backed banning social media for under-15s and pressing for age‑verification systems; parliamentary reports in 2025 recommended a total ban for under‑15s and a 10pm–8am “digital curfew” for 15–18 year‑olds [3] [4] [5].
1. SREN: France’s domestic vehicle for EU platform rules
The SREN Act (Law to Secure and Regulate the Digital Space) is France’s principal new law connecting national security and platform duties: it adapts and implements EU-level obligations under the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act and designates national regulators (ARCOM, DGCCRF) to enforce stricter transparency, content‑removal and platform‑liability rules, with criminal penalties and fines up to 6% of worldwide turnover for breaches [1] [6]. Legal commentary and government materials portray SREN as aimed at combating disinformation, hate speech and scams while strengthening state oversight of major platforms [1] [7].
2. Age verification and potential bans for minors
French law and policy now explicitly target minors’ access: SREN and related measures require platforms to implement age verification to block minors from pornographic content and to obtain parental consent for under‑15s in some contexts; President Macron has publicly advocated a ban on social media for under‑15s and pressed the EU to act, threatening national legislation if Brussels does not [8] [3] [9]. Parliamentary committees in 2025 urged an outright ban for under‑15s and a “digital curfew” for 15–18 year‑olds between 10pm and 8am — proposals framed as responses to youth exposure to harmful content and addiction [4] [5].
3. Enforcement powers tied to national security concerns
SREN widens authorities’ powers to address threats to public order and national security online: regulators can order temporary account suspensions for individuals convicted of online hate-speech and can block websites that flout age-verification or facilitate scams; ANSSI, CNIL and ARCOM are integrated into a system for reporting and responding to security incidents that implicate platforms [2] [10] [1]. Commentators note these powers are justified by ministers as tools to protect social cohesion and public safety, especially after violent incidents that officials linked to online influences [3] [1].
4. Technology and privacy tensions: age checks vs anonymity
The French push for robust age verification raises an inherent trade‑off: officials demand reliable mechanisms to prevent under‑age accounts while the “double anonymity” and privacy guarantees in some laws attempt to limit data exposure — but experts and civil libertarians warn age‑assurance systems (including biometrics) can erode privacy or be hard to implement without intrusive checks [9] [11]. Reporting highlights that France’s approach contemplates technical and legal safeguards but also that implementing decrees and technical rules remain to be clarified [7] [11].
5. International and EU context: France acting ahead or in step?
France frames many measures as implementing EU DSA/DMA obligations domestically and as pushing the bloc for firmer age rules; Macron has said France will act if the EU does not set a 15‑year threshold, and other EU states (Denmark, Greece, Spain) are exploring similar ages or limits [1] [3] [11]. Analysts caution that national laws may collide with EU legal principles (home‑state control) and face legal challenges, a concern traced to earlier CJEU rulings and domestic‑vs‑EU competence debates [12].
6. Political drivers and competing narratives
French lawmakers portray the measures as protecting children and national security after high‑profile violent events and evidence of algorithmic harms, while critics (civil liberties groups, some legal analysts) argue the laws risk excessive censorship and raise implementation problems that could be exploited by governments seeking broader surveillance powers [2] [12]. Parliament’s stricter recommendations on bans and curfews reflect domestic political pressure; legal analysts point out SREN’s broad enforcement tools will be tested in court and in implementing decrees [4] [6].
Limitations: available sources describe SREN, parliamentary reports, Macron’s statements and enforcement roles but do not provide final implementing decrees, precise technical rules for age verification, nor definitive outcomes of any legal challenges — those details are not found in current reporting [7] [12].