SOCIAL media is causing significant harm to the mental health of adolescents, particularly girls, according to France’s public health watchdog, as lawmakers debate whether to bar children under the age of 15 from accessing major online platforms
The warning follows the release of an expert scientific review by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), published after Australia last month became the first country to ban under-16s from platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Several other nations are now considering similar restrictions.
While social media is not the sole factor behind the deterioration in adolescent mental health, its negative effects are “numerous” and well documented, ANSES said in its opinion, which draws on five years of work by a multidisciplinary panel of experts.
France is currently debating two proposed laws, one of them supported by President Emmanuel Macron, that would prohibit access to social media platforms for children under 15.
ANSES recommended “acting at the source” to ensure that children are only able to access social networks “designed and configured to protect their health.” This, the agency said, would require platforms to fundamentally alter their personalised algorithms, persuasive design techniques and default settings.
“This study provides scientific arguments for the debate about social networks in recent years: it is based on 1,000 studies,” said Olivia Roth-Delgado, who heads the expert panel, speaking at a press conference.
According to the watchdog’s findings, social media can create an “unprecedented echo chamber” that reinforces stereotypes, encourages risky behaviour and fuels cyberbullying. The content circulating on these platforms was also found to promote unrealistic standards of beauty through digitally altered images.
Such portrayals can undermine self-esteem among girls in particular, the opinion said, creating conditions that may contribute to depression or eating disorders.
Girls, who generally spend more time on social media than boys, are also exposed to greater “social pressure linked to gender stereotypes,” ANSES said, concluding that this leaves them disproportionately affected by the risks associated with social media use. - January 20, 2026
