The French president has linked a current deadly college stabbing to youth violence fueled by on-line platforms
France will block social media entry for kids below 15 “inside just a few months” if the EU doesn’t take coordinated motion, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged following a lethal knife assault at an area college.
“We should ban social media for these below 15,” Macron informed the broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday.
Hours earlier, a 14-year-old pupil attacked a 31-year-old educating assistant throughout a faculty bag test for weapons in Nogent in japanese France. He then injured a police officer with the identical knife and was arrested on the scene, based on the Nationwide Gendarmerie.
“I’m giving us just a few months to get the European mobilization going. In any other case… we’ll begin doing it in France. We are able to’t wait,” Macron stated.
The scholar, described as well-behaved and with no prior points, had participated in anti-bullying actions and got here from a steady household. The sufferer, a mom of two, had reportedly labored on the college since September.
Macron stated social media was one of many components responsible for violence amongst younger individuals because the incident was not an remoted case. In April, a highschool pupil in western France fatally stabbed a woman and injured three boys earlier than being arrested.
Writing on X after the interview, Macron stated such regulation was backed by specialists. “Platforms have the flexibility to confirm age. Do it,” he wrote.
Earlier this yr, 200 colleges in France started piloting a “digital break,” barring college students below 15 from utilizing smartphones throughout college hours. The Schooling Ministry additionally stepped up college safety, with random bag checks resulting in 186 knife seizures in two months this spring.
Spain and Greece are additionally backing a plan to require age verification know-how on all internet-connected units. The proposal would make such verification necessary for platforms resembling Fb and X.
The European Fee and a number of other EU states are growing pilot applications to check age checks and parental controls. Nonetheless, progress is being slowed by differing rules throughout EU nations and the convenience with which customers can entry social media platforms from exterior the bloc.
In Russia, restrictions launched in September ban college students from utilizing cellphones in colleges, permitting exceptions solely in emergencies.
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