Toby Howell

The vote was supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said, "...the brains of our children and adolescents are not for sale, warning their emotions are not to be manipulated, whether by American platforms or Chinese algorithms."

The bill passed overwhelmingly with a vote of 130 to 21.

It will now go to France's upper house ahead of becoming a law.

France is taking up a rallying cry that is gaining momentum in much of the Western world.

And the U.S.

jury selection begins today in Los Angeles for a landmark civil trial brought by parents who accuse Meta, TikTok, and YouTube of causing children to develop social media addiction.

The UK government is considering a similar social media ban for kids.

And Australia is a month deep into navigating their own law that restricts under-16s from having social media.

That ban is in full swing now with over 4.7 million teen accounts deactivated or removed since it went into effect.

Neil, the world is clearly souring on these platforms, especially after the Aussies showed that a ban is possible.

Not since Hugh Jackman starred in Les Mis have we seen France take inspiration from Australia like this.

Why else is this so popular around the world?

It's because it is literally popular with voting bases.

France is sort of looking at this as a win for

a very fractured government because both the pro-Macron parties and the right-wing populist parties are rallying behind to support this legislation.

The Wall Street Journal also recently conducted a poll of American readers, and 71% of respondents support banning most social media for kids under 16.

So these are seen as political wins for deeply divided political bodies right now around the world, which is why we're seeing it from France all the way to Australia and maybe some momentum in the U.S.

as well.

And a lot of people are drawing comparisons to a similar kind of movement against tobacco companies back in the day because

The argument is that they knew the risk of cigarettes and knowingly concealed it.