Switch off your mobile phones and read, France’s Macron tells teenagers
- Last updated: April 18, 2026 | 08:59
French President Emmanuel Macron urged high school pupils on Thursday to switch off their phones and read, pushing for one “no screens day” per month for all, and a blanket social media ban for those under 15 years of age. Following Australia’s groundbreaking social media ban for children launched last year, a growing number of European nations are weighing their own restrictions as concerns mount over social media’s impact on the health and safety of minors.
“We left you in this jungle and it robbed you of your attention,” Macron told high school kids, speaking of the lack of rules on social media. “We need to slow down and help you become adults, and above all citizens.” “That’s why what we want to do is say that before 15 years old, no more social media. And we’d like, one day a month, to have an offline day ... to show it’s possible,” he said, adding that this day could be used to read aloud, do theatre or other activities.
Banning Access? In France, a draft bill is going through parliament with the aim to establish a ban for those under 15. But while the lower house has voted for a blanket ban, senators want to block access only for platforms that are considered harmful for children. This means Macron’s aim to have the new legislation in place for the start of the new academic year in September may not be met. So far, at least a dozen European countries, including non-EU nations Britain and Norway, have enacted or are considering legislation setting minimum age limits – typically between 13 and 16 years – for social media usage. And the EU is readying an age verification app.
Cyprus was the latest to announce plans to establish a ban, with President Nikos Christodoulides saying on Thursday that his country would set the age of 15 as the minimum for creating and using an account on social media platforms.
Later in the day, Macron will host a video call with other EU leaders to push for a coordinated approach. The conference is focused on creating a “digital majority” in Europe, limiting access for children below a defined age and requiring age verification, officials said.
Mixed Feelings: In Villers-Cotterets, in northern France, where Macron laid out some of his plans, high school students had mixed feelings about a ban. “I think it’s rather up to parents to check up on their children,” said 12-year-old Erdem Duran. Fabien Andronic, aged 15, also disagreed with a ban. “I like social networks, we learn a lot there,” he said.
But Manel Zerouali, also aged 15, agreed with a ban for those under 15, so they can be protected. “On social network there is cyberbullying,” she stressed. One thing all agreed on was that most youngsters would find a way around a ban. Australia has seen a huge spike in downloads of virtual private networks (VPNs) since it introduced its social media ban, as users seek to bypass the measure to access restricted platforms.
Take Responsibility: Meanwhile, in Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told social media companies on Thursday to take responsibility for children’s safety on their platforms and meet parents’ demands for credible protection rather than “tweaks around the edges”. He said he wanted to hear what actions the platforms were going to take because “right now, social media is putting our children at risk” at the start of a meeting with executives from Meta, Snap, Google, TikTok and X. Britain is consulting until next month on whether to restrict children’s access to social media, including a possible ban for under-16s, as well as curfews, app time limits and curbs on what it described as addictive design features.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen millennials gathered in a brownstone apartment in Brooklyn and placed their phones in a metal colander before two hours of reading, drawing and conversation — anything but staring at screens. A similar scene played out a few miles away, in an early 20th-century cardboard box factory turned high-end office space. Nearly 20 people in their 30s stared at their cellphones for a few minutes. Then they set them down and looked at their bared palms for a while. Then those of their neighbors.
The exercise was meant to drive home the importance of paying attention to real life, not the gleaming little screens that have taken over our world. Two decades after Steve Jobs premiered the iPhone, a small but passionate movement — with offshoots in several countries — is rebelling against the omnipresent screen. “The products have become more insidious and more extractive, exploitative,” said Dan Fox, 38, who hosted the house gathering. Members of the nascent movement “want to start a revolution,” he said.
But can an “attention activism” movement of millennials and Generation Z members break free of the world’s largest companies? The raw numbers say no. But cultural changes start small, and the rebellion is growing against what many call “human fracking.” Apple and other Big Tech firms say they’ve taken steps to help users reduce time spent on their devices, including features that track usage and a less enticing gray mode. Activists say it’s not enough.
“They want to take down Big Tech,” says Fox, a stand-up comedian who works in marketing for Brooklyn-based Light Phone, one of several “dumb phones” with only basic functionality. Unlike most modern products, the company boasts of its phones’ lack of features, like “social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed.”
Fox was inspired to join the movement when he attended a 2015 Tame Impala concert at Radio City Music Hall. It felt as if everyone in the audience was filming the concert on their phones instead of immersing themselves in the music. “I realized the phones are literally getting in the way of the things I love,” Fox said.
Agencies