France has become the first European Union country to ban social media use by children under 15 after lawmakers overwhelmingly approved landmark legislation by 279 votes to 81.

Under the new law, children under 15 will be barred from opening new accounts on platforms including TikTok and Snapchat from September, while existing accounts will be blocked from January 2027.

The legislation will also prohibit students from bringing phones into high schools from next year and require social media platforms to implement age-verification systems.

Mobile phones are already banned in French elementary and middle schools.

“France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers,” President Emmanuel Macron said.

Earlier this year, France’s public health watchdog concluded that social media has harmful effects on teenagers’ mental health, with girls particularly affected.

Macron has made online child safety a defining issue of the final years of his presidency, with the social media ban likely to be one of the last major domestic reforms he pushes through.

He will mark a decade in office next year but cannot seek another term in April’s presidential election, as France, like the United States, limits presidents to two consecutive terms.