"There is no good use for a phone when you are 10 years old": a cross-party bill to ban the sale of smartphones to children under 15

Politicians continue to invest in the field of protecting teenagers in the face of the all-powerful use of screens. Socialist Ayda Hadizadeh and Horizons MP Jérémie Patrier-Leitus will submit a cross-party bill in the coming days to ban the sale of phones to children under 15, according to a report in Le Figaro , confirmed by Libération .

"Study after study, experts warn of the role of screens and networks on the mental health of young people : rise in violence, harassment, sleep problems... There is therefore a need for a collective awakening and radical measures because our young people are in danger," Jérémie Patrier-Leitus told Libération . The objective is therefore to "tackle the problem at the root", "create collective awareness" and "show that there is no good use for a phone when you are 10 years old" .

Concretely, this bill intends to rely on Apple, Samsung and all other retailers to check the age of their youngest customers when purchasing, as supermarkets currently do for alcohol or tobacconists for tobacco, under penalty of exposing themselves to financial penalties.

This bill comes at a time when Emmanuel Macron has promised to ban social media for children under 15 within "a few months," even though many voices are questioning the feasibility of such a measure . In the case of phone sales, circumventing the ban is also easy. Nothing can prevent parents from breaking the law and giving a mobile phone to their children under 15. "We won't stop them," acknowledges Jérémie Patrier-Leitus , "but if they do, it will be up to them to bear the consequences." "Moreover, this law must allow parents to set a framework and avoid being pressured by their children who are pushing to have phones," he continues.

While this bill prohibits sales to children under 15, it does not intend to "return to the Stone Age" and prevent them from owning cell phones. MPs want to push manufacturers to develop "limited-function phones" suitable for young people: making calls, sending messages and photos, but without access to the internet or social media.

This cross-party initiative, a reflection of a hung National Assembly attempting to move forward, will be open to co-signature from other MPs starting next week. Ayda Hadizadeh and Jérémie Patrier-Leitus are counting on the support of their colleagues and hope to see their proposal placed on the agenda during the next cross-party week, scheduled for December 2025.