France’s top court struck down on Friday a law championed by President Emmanuel Macron that would have made it illegal for children to have social media accounts.The law, approved by lawmakers in July, was set to take effect at the start of the new school year in September, banning children under 15 from having social media. In a ruling this week, the Constitutional Council said aspects of the legislation’s provisions were too wide-ranging, marking a breach of privacy and freedom. The decision has already triggered a promise from Macron’s Elysee Palace that new legislation will be reworked, with the president expressing hope it can become law before his term ends in 2027.

“The Council holds that the contested provisions, on the one hand, disproportionately infringe upon the freedom of expression and communication and, on the other, fail to provide the legal safeguards necessary to ensure the right to respect for private life,” France’s highest court said. Macron had sought to make France the first European country to pass legislation restricting children’s access to social media, with the law expected to bar them from all major platforms.“The brains of our children and our teenagers are not for sale,” he said in a video message in January. “The emotions of our children and our teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated, neither by American platforms nor by Chinese algorithms.”The ruling Friday marks a setback to Macron’s agenda, as the council found that while the law required users to provide proof ​of age, it failed to specify the “conditions and limits” ‌under which this should happen. The president had ordered the French government to expedite the bill’s passage through parliament, and it had been viewed as one of the final major measures adopted under his administration before he leaves office.STATE DEPARTMENT DEMANDS US-FUNDED UN AGENCY ‘FULLY INVESTIGATE’ HAMAS INVOLVEMENT IN AID PROGRAMSFollowing the latest ruling, Macron ordered Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to produce a “legally robust draft” of the legislation “as quickly as possible.” It is unclear how much pushback it will receive from lawmakers in the left-wing party France Unbowed, which had previously criticized a sweeping ban on children’s access to social media.Elysee Palace said Macron was determined that internet reforms would take effect before spring 2027, when France holds a presidential election.