President Macron Announces Potential Expansion of Digital Restrictions
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans to potentially extend the ban on mobile phones to high schools, following their existing prohibition in elementary and middle schools. The announcement came during a public discussion with readers from the Ebra media group in the Vosges region on November 28, 2025.
Implementation Timeline and Strategy
“We removed phones from middle schools. We will likely extend this to high schools starting next school year,” stated the French leader. Macron emphasized that the government will engage parents through parent-teacher meetings and launch a comprehensive national communication and prevention campaign targeting families.
Connection Between Social Media and Mental Health
The President highlighted what he described as a “clear correlation” between social media usage and mental health issues among young people. This concern forms part of the rationale behind the proposed extension of the phone ban to older students.
Legal Measures Against Online Content
In related developments, Macron announced plans to establish emergency legal procedures against what he termed “false information” or content “detrimental to human dignity” circulated on social media platforms. The government aims to incorporate this new emergency legal mechanism into French law “as quickly as possible.”
Current Digital Restrictions in Education
Since the beginning of the 2025 academic year, France has implemented a “digital break” policy across all middle schools, completely prohibiting mobile phone usage within these educational institutions. The potential extension to high schools would represent a significant expansion of the government’s digital restriction policies in educational settings.
