PARIS/SYDNEY: French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the European Commission to introduce a European Union-wide ban on social media for children under 15.

Macron appealed after France failed to bring in its own national restrictions. His office said on September 8 that the French president had written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging the EU to take action.

In a letter dated August 29, Macron said a common European law had become necessary after France's Constitutional Council rejected a national bill earlier this summer. The proposed French law had been expected to come into force in September.

Macron argued that individual countries should not have to deal with the issue separately. He said a single EU-wide rule would provide the same protection to children across the bloc.

"I believe it has now become essential to go further and, through a new European legislative text, harmonize a ban on access to social media platforms for children under the age of 15, to protect all children across the Union," Macron wrote.

The French president has made the issue an important political priority as he enters the final year of his presidency. France is due to hold its next presidential election in 2027, although Macron cannot seek a third consecutive term.

His government is also expected to try again to introduce national restrictions after the Constitutional Council blocked the earlier legislation. However, political divisions in the French parliament and difficult negotiations over the national budget could make it harder to pass a new law.

Von der Leyen said in July that the EU was preparing measures to reduce young children's exposure to social media across its 27 member states. The plans followed recommendations from two experts who proposed a gradual, age-based system.

Under that approach, children under 13 would have only limited, supervised access to social media. Restrictions would then ease as children got older.

Macron is calling for a much stricter rule. His proposal would prevent children from accessing social media until they reach 15. He wants to address the issue ahead of von der Leyen's major State of the Union speech to the European Parliament later this month.

The debate has grown across Europe following Australia's decision to introduce a world-first social media ban for children.

In Australia, the government has proposed new rules requiring platforms to tell users how their default feeds work and let them choose the type of content they receive.

Under the proposed system, users could allow platforms to continue showing personalized posts selected by algorithms. They could instead switch off algorithm-based recommendations and see content only from friends and creators they have chosen to follow.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the proposal as a practical way to give people greater control over their online experience. He also said technology companies would face greater responsibility for meeting Australia's online safety requirements.

Meta Platforms, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Google's parent company, Alphabet, had not immediately commented on the proposed Australian rules.

Australia's plans build on measures already introduced by the European Union. The EU's Digital Services Act has required major platforms since 2024 to let users turn off profiling and certain forms of personalized content.

The Australian government said its proposed "My Feed, My Way" system would go further by requiring digital platforms to record the steps they take to deal with risks to users. Companies would also have to show that those measures continue to work effectively over time.

Companies that fail to comply with the proposed rules could face fines of up to A$109.2 million, or about US$79 million.