France to implement social media ban as addiction trial kicks off

Nathan Jolly

January 28, 2026 12:03

France to implement social media ban as addiction trial kicks off

The first of thousands of social media addiction lawsuits is set to begin

France has taken the first step in passing a law banning under-15s from social media on the same day a trial begins in Los Angeles seeking to hold Meta and Youtube responsible for the harms of “digital addiction”.

The French under-15s legislation, likely inspired by Australia’s under-16s social media ban but different in many aspects, was passed by an overwhelming majority of the National Assembly (France’s lower house).

The law must now go to the Senate, where it may be modified and passed back to the Assembly for final approval.

The French law, as well as reducing the age of authorised social media use to 15, implements a social media curfew for 15-18 year olds between 10pm and 8am. It also comes with a requirement for health warnings on phone handsets and other devices.

This comes as a landmark social media addiction lawsuit is set to go to trial in California on Wednesday afternoon (AEDT time).

A 20-year-old woman, identified only by the initials KGM, is alleging that algorithms used by social media companies caused her to become addicted to the platforms and impacted her mental health.

The suit was originally brought against Instagram and Facebook owner Meta, Snapchat operator Snap, Tiktok parent company Bytedance, and Alphabet — owner of Google and Youtube.

Snapchat’s parent Snap settled with the plaintiff last week, while Bytedance settled just hours before jury selection was due to begin on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time). Both settlements are confidential.

Snap said in a statement it was “pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner”.

The Social Media Victims Law Centre (SMVLC), which brought the case on behalf of KGM, said of the Bytedance settlement that both parties “are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution of this dispute.”

The trial will now go ahead with Meta and Alphabet as the defendants.

Matthew Bergman, SMVLC founder and attorney for the plaintiff, told the BBC: “Unfortunately, there are all too many kids in the United States, the UK, and around the world who are suffering as KGM does because of the dangerous and addictive algorithms that the social media platforms foist on unsuspecting kids.

“These companies are going to have to explain to a jury why their profits were more important than the lives of our young people.”

Meta said in a statement it has already implemented tools to protect teenagers on its platform.

“We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” it said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify in the early stages of the trial.

This is the first of “thousands of social media addiction lawsuits” that are being filed by SMVLC against major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, Youtube, and Discord.

These lawsuits allege the companies “intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive to children and teens without warning of the mental and physical harm that would follow”, according to the Centre.

The social media companies initially claimed protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which prevents platforms from being held responsible for information shared by others.

A California judge ruled this month that this protection “does not cover claims concerning harmful design features – such as algorithms, notifications, and infinite scrolling feeds”, allowing Bergman to call experts in psychiatry, neuroscience, pediatrics, and media psychology during the trial.

“This ruling allows the plaintiff’s experts to present evidence demonstrating how platform design contributes to addiction, anxiety, depression, and other harms affecting youth,” the SMVLC said in a statement.

“The decision also marks a significant step forward for victims and families seeking accountability.”