French president Emmanuel Macron has called for a monthly ‘day of disconnection’ for young people as he pushes ahead with plans to ban social media for under-15s.
Speaking to an audience of high school students on Thursday, Macron said that screens and social media are: “Time stolen from personal development, time when you’re not doing any sport or reading.”
He called on young people to take one day a month as a day disconnected from screens in order to “rediscover the vitality of real life”.
The president’s proposal is for a voluntary day of disconnection, but the French government is pushing ahead with a ban on social media for under 15s.
The bill has already been passed in the Assemblée nationale and is now heading to the Senate for a reading – the plan is for the legislation to be passed in time for the start of the new school year in September.
France is among 13 European countries – Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czechia and Slovenia – who are either considering or in the process of implementing restrictions on access to social media for young people.
France already has a legal ‘right to disconnect’ for French workers – bosses cannot expect their employees to log on or reply to work-related messages out of hours.
READ ALSO: Right to disconnect: Is it illegal for French bosses to contact workers out-of-hours?✎
