France has become the first European nation to draw a legal boundary between children and social media, voting unanimously to bar those under 15 from platforms that have reshaped adolescence across the world. The law, which takes effect September 1st, places the burden of enforcement on the platforms themselves and follows Australia's pioneering move in December 2024. In doing so, France enters a long-running debate about what societies owe their youngest members in the digital age — and whether protection, not merely guidance, is the appropriate answer.