French lawmakers urge social media ban for under-15s

French lawmakers urged a social media ban for under-15s and "digital curfew" for older minors Thursday, with massively popular short video platform TikTok the focus of renewed harsh government scrutiny.

Imposing the ban and a 10 pm to 8 am curfew for 15- to 18-year-olds would "send a signal both to children and parents" that social media "is not harmless" for the young, Laure Miller, the MP who compiled a parliamentary inquiry's report, told AFP.

With more than 1.5 billion users worldwide, TikTok -- owned by China-based ByteDance -- has been especially under fire from Western governments in Europe and the US in recent years.

Concerns raised over the platform have included content encouraging suicide, self harm or an unhealthy body image as well as its potential use for foreign political interference.

French lawmakers urged a social media ban for under-15s and "digital curfew" for older minors Thursday, with massively popular short video platform TikTok the focus of renewed harsh government scrutiny.

Imposing the ban and a 10 pm to 8 am curfew for 15- to 18-year-olds would "send a signal both to children and parents" that social media "is not harmless" for the young, Laure Miller, the MP who compiled a parliamentary inquiry's report, told AFP.

With more than 1.5 billion users worldwide, TikTok -- owned by China-based ByteDance -- has been especially under fire from Western governments in Europe and the US in recent years.

Concerns raised over the platform have included content encouraging suicide, self harm or an unhealthy body image as well as its potential use for foreign political interference.

French President Emmanuel Macron has already backed a social media ban for children and young adolescents, following in the footsteps of Australia which started drafting its own landmark ban for under-16s last year.

Meanwhile TikTok is in legal limbo in America, as President Donald Trump has permitted the platform to continue operating there despite a law requiring its sale.

The service was also singled out as a vector for Russian influence when Romania's presidential election was controversially annulled last year by the country's supreme court.

Launched in March, the French parliamentary committee set out to examine TikTok and its psychological effects on minors after a 2024 lawsuit against the platform by seven families accusing it of exposing their children to content pushing them towards suicide.

Members put forward Thursday's recommendations -- welcomed by Laure Boutron-Marmion, a lawyer representing the families -- after months of testimony from families, social media executives and influencers.

Ocean of harmful content

Miller said they found "an ocean of harmful content" with videos "promoting suicide and self-mutilation" and "showing off every kind of violence".

The platform corralled young users into self-contained "bubbles" of such videos, she told reporters in Paris, in an addictive design that has since been "copied by other social media".

Miller added that simple use of TikTok could sap young people's attention and concentration.

A TikTok spokesman told AFP that the company "categorically rejects the deceptive presentation" by MPs, saying it was being made a "scapegoat" for broader societal issues.

Committee chief Arthur Delaporte said he would file a criminal complaint with French prosecutors accusing TikTok of "deliberately endangering the lives" of users.

"The platform knows what's going wrong and that their algorithm is problematic," he told AFP.

Delaporte's complaint includes allegations that TikTok executives committed "perjury" in their testimony to the committee by denying knowledge of an internal report on potential harms that leaked to US and French media.

TikTok did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on Delaporte's complaint.

 Leaky moderation 

The platform has stressed that that the safety of young users of its app is its "top priority".

Geraldine, the mother of an 18-year-old woman who died by suicide, told AFP that, after her daughter's death last year, she had discovered videos of self-harm her daughter had published and looked at on TikTok.

"TikTok didn't kill our little girl, because she wasn't well in any case," said Geraldine, 52, who declined to be identified by her last name.

But she accused TikTok of falling short in its online moderation, and plunging her daughter deeper into her dark impulses.

Executives for TikTok told MPs that the app used AI-enhanced moderation that last year caught 98 percent of content infringing its terms of service in France.

AI has grown in importance for social media moderation as operators look to save money on human checks for content like pornography, misinformation and hate speech.

TikTok said last month that technological improvements would allow it to cut down on moderation jobs and locations worldwide, possibly including several hundred jobs in the UK.

But the French lawmakers found TikTok's rules were "very easy to circumvent", for example by using euphemisms for filtered keywords like "suicide".

The committee's report suggested that the ban on children under 15 using social media could be broadened to everyone under 18 if, within the next three years, the platforms did not respect European laws.

French President Emmanuel Macron has already backed a social media ban for children and young adolescents, following in the footsteps of Australia which started drafting its own landmark ban for under-16s last year.

Meanwhile TikTok is in legal limbo in America, as President Donald Trump has permitted the platform to continue operating there despite a law requiring its sale.

The service was also singled out as a vector for Russian influence when Romania's presidential election was controversially annulled last year by the country's supreme court.

Launched in March, the French parliamentary committee set out to examine TikTok and its psychological effects on minors after a 2024 lawsuit against the platform by seven families accusing it of exposing their children to content pushing them towards suicide.

Members put forward Thursday's recommendations -- welcomed by Laure Boutron-Marmion, a lawyer representing the families -- after months of testimony from families, social media executives and influencers.

Ocean of harmful content

Miller said they found "an ocean of harmful content" with videos "promoting suicide and self-mutilation" and "showing off every kind of violence".

The platform corralled young users into self-contained "bubbles" of such videos, she told reporters in Paris, in an addictive design that has since been "copied by other social media".

Miller added that simple use of TikTok could sap young people's attention and concentration.

A TikTok spokesman told AFP that the company "categorically rejects the deceptive presentation" by MPs, saying it was being made a "scapegoat" for broader societal issues.

Committee chief Arthur Delaporte said he would file a criminal complaint with French prosecutors accusing TikTok of "deliberately endangering the lives" of users.

"The platform knows what's going wrong and that their algorithm is problematic," he told AFP.

Delaporte's complaint includes allegations that TikTok executives committed "perjury" in their testimony to the committee by denying knowledge of an internal report on potential harms that leaked to US and French media.

TikTok did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on Delaporte's complaint.

Leaky moderation 

The platform has stressed that that the safety of young users of its app is its "top priority".

Geraldine, the mother of an 18-year-old woman who died by suicide, told AFP that, after her daughter's death last year, she had discovered videos of self-harm her daughter had published and looked at on TikTok.

"TikTok didn't kill our little girl, because she wasn't well in any case," said Geraldine, 52, who declined to be identified by her last name.

But she accused TikTok of falling short in its online moderation, and plunging her daughter deeper into her dark impulses.

Executives for TikTok told MPs that the app used AI-enhanced moderation that last year caught 98 percent of content infringing its terms of service in France.

AI has grown in importance for social media moderation as operators look to save money on human checks for content like pornography, misinformation and hate speech.

TikTok said last month that technological improvements would allow it to cut down on moderation jobs and locations worldwide, possibly including several hundred jobs in the UK.

But the French lawmakers found TikTok's rules were "very easy to circumvent", for example by using euphemisms for filtered keywords like "suicide".

The committee's report suggested that the ban on children under 15 using social media could be broadened to everyone under 18 if, within the next three years, the platforms did not respect European laws.