MOSCOW, June 11 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) — France will ban social media access for children under 15 and toughen regulations for the sale of bladed weapons to minors, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported.
President Emmanuel Macron said this after a teenager stabbed a school employee to death on Tuesday.
“We must ban social media for children under 15. I am giving us a few months to get Europe to act. Otherwise, we will start doing it in France. We cannot wait,” the president told the France 2 broadcaster.
In April, former French Prime Minister Gabriele Attal proposed banning children under 15 from social media and restricting access during nighttime hours for older teenagers as part of “radical measures” to combat internet addiction.
Macron also promised to better regulate sales of bladed weapons, including online. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on social media that the threat of bladed weapons had become critical and vowed to “make this widespread scourge a public enemy.”
“We will tighten the rules. This means we will introduce extensive financial sanctions and bans.
“We will no longer be able to sell these bladed weapons. A 15-year-old teenager will no longer be able to buy a knife online,” Macron said.
Earlier on Tuesday, a 15-year-old student stabbed a female school assistant repeatedly with a knife and injured a police officer at a secondary school in Nogent, in northeastern France. The woman died from her injuries.
— BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI