Key issues in France’s regulatory debate

During the session, ISC outlined several pressing challenges shaping France’s child online protection agenda:

• Children’s digital exposure. Despite formal age restrictions, children in France are immersed in digital life from an early age. 98 per cent of 8–11-year-olds have access to at least one screen at home, and 63 per cent of children under 13 already have a personal social media account, despite minimum age requirements.
• Cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become a widespread experience among French youth, often occurring in peer group chats and amplified by the use of real identities online. More than one in two children report having faced some form of cyberviolence, while 20 per cent of 8-19-year-olds say they have been victims of cyberbullying. Girls are disproportionately affected, as 51 per cent of victims are female.
• Sharenting and the family influencer economy. The commercialisation of childhood through parental and child influencer accounts raises serious concerns about privacy, protection, and children’s rights to a “normal” childhood. Over half of French parents share images of their children online, often before the child turns five, and 91 per cent post before that age. Alarmingly, around 50 per cent of images found on pedo-criminal forums were originally shared by parents themselves. 

Legislative and policy responses

In response, France has enacted or advanced several landmark laws and initiatives:

• Digital age of majority law for social media (2023)
• Children’s image rights law (2024) 
  SREN law – Secure and Regulated Digital Space (2024)
• Elysée screen commission (2024)
• Mandatory age verification for pornography, with penalties for non-compliance (2024)
• Parliamentary hearings and the TikTok report (2025) 

Balancing regulation and education

While the French Safer Internet Centre works closely with ARCOM (the Digital Service Coordinator for France) to support these regulatory initiatives, it stresses that regulation and education must progress together. Children will continue to live and learn in digital spaces, the key question is whether they have the knowledge and confidence to do so safely.

At the national level, the French Safer Internet Centre fosters close institutional cooperation to inform policy responses and, through Internet Sans Crainte, develops over 200 educational resources to support an integrated model of regulation, education, and empowerment. The goal is clear: to protect young people and support families through education, awareness, and responsible participation in the digital age.

Find more information about the work of the French Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services, or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.