France

[FR] Report of the parliamentary committee of enquiry into the psychological effects of TikTok

IRIS 2025-9:1/12

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

A report on the psychological effects of TikTok on minors, written by the National Assembly’s committee of enquiry, has been published. In its report, the committee, chaired by Arthur Delaporte with Laure Miller as rapporteur, expresses concern about the harmful effects of the Chinese social network on the mental health of minors, noting that content moderation does not meet the requirements of the DSA.

In the light of these findings, the rapporteurs put forward 43 proposals, including banning under-15s from social networks (excluding messaging services), introducing a digital curfew from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., making “digital negligence” an offence to supplement Article 227-17 of the Criminal Code in order to punish parents who fail to comply, banning “monetised lives” for minors, and reclassifying virtual gifts as gambling subject to regulation by the French Gaming Authority. The MEPs also suggest increasing the resources of the Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique (the French audiovisual regulator – ARCOM) so that it can fully assume its role of supervising digital platforms under the DSA.

The report also proposes that the Law of 21 June 2004 on confidence in the digital economy (LCEN) be amended to require hosting service providers to help combat the dissemination of “suicide-related propaganda or advertising” (Article 223-14 of the Criminal Code). TikTok’s algorithmic targeting brings young people into contact with themes linked to their psychological vulnerability.

Noting that advertising remains the primary source of revenue for the various platforms, the committee proposes amending the Code de la santé publique (public health code) to require health-related information to be included in advertising for online social networking services.

At European level, the report calls for stricter application of the DSA, stiffer penalties (up to 6% of global turnover), transparency in algorithms and a change in the legal status of platforms. Lastly, it recommends introducing an algorithmic pluralism obligation into European Union law, inspired by the principle of media pluralism.

When presenting his conclusions, the committee chairman announced that he had referred the matter to the Paris public prosecutor on the grounds that the lives of TikTok users were in danger.