Social Media: Social media will be banned for children below 15 years of age, President approves..

French President Emmanuel Macron has indicated that social media may be banned for children under the age of 15. He said that if the European Union (EU) does not take any action on this in the coming months, then France itself will make strict laws in this direction.

This statement came just hours after the tragic incident in which a 14-year-old student stabbed a 31-year-old staff member to death at a middle school in the eastern French city of Nogent. A police officer was also injured in the attack. The student stabbed both of them with the same knife.

"We cannot wait any longer": Macron.

In an interview with France 2 TV channel, President Macron said, "We have to ban social media for children under the age of 15. I am expecting efforts from Europe in this direction. If not, France will take action alone. We cannot wait any longer." He also said that uncontrolled access to digital platforms is becoming a major reason for promoting the culture of increasing violence among youth.

Social media: Danger for children?

While it is not yet clear whether social media played any role in the Nojhon incident, French officials believe that aggressive behavior is spreading rapidly through these platforms. Macron then also wrote on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter): "Platforms have age verification technology, they should use it."

Australia's example
France is not the only country that is getting strict about the ill effects of social media. Australia banned social media for children under the age of 16 in 2024. The government there said that it would enforce this rule with the help of age verification technology.

In Australia, this ban applies to platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X, although gaming and messaging apps are out of this rule because they cannot be used without an account. If companies violate this rule, they can be fined up to 50 million Australian dollars (about ₹ 270 crores).

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