Between regulatory changes, new connected objects at home, and the reshaping of children’s digital usage, the landscape of digital parenting is changing rapidly. A parent who sets up parental controls on the family tablet on a Sunday evening may discover on Monday morning that the law regulating minors’ access to social networks has just been partially censored by the Constitutional Council. Sorting out what really changes from media noise requires regular monitoring.
Prohibition of social networks for under 15s: what constitutional censorship changes for parents
The French Parliament has adopted a law prohibiting social networks for those under 15, a first in Europe. On paper, families finally had a clear framework to refuse a child’s registration on a platform.
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A few weeks later, the Constitutional Council censored the blanket prohibition measure, arguing that it infringes on freedom of expression and communication. We are therefore left with three levels of regulation that contradict each other: French law, the European Digital Services Regulation (DSA), and the age verification practices specific to each platform.
In practice, parents who were counting on a uniform national mechanism to block their children’s access must deal with legal ambiguity. Platforms have no clear obligation for reliable age verification, and the responsibility largely falls back on families. Following the news on Familles Connectées helps to understand how this framework evolves with court decisions and European negotiations.
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Connected objects at home: what families are really using in 2026
We often talk about voice assistants when discussing the connected home. Recent data shows that voice assistants are no longer the favorite connected objects of the French. Usage is shifting towards other categories of devices.
For families, the devices gaining ground are those related to security and monitoring children:
- Connected watches with location function, used by parents to know where the child is after school without giving them a smartphone
- Sleep tracking apps for infants, which send alerts to parents’ phones
The choice of a family connected object is not limited to its functionalities. The issue of personal data collected on children remains a blind spot for many households. A GPS bracelet for children continuously transmits geolocation data, stored on servers whose locations are rarely known.
Parental control on tablet and smartphone: the limits of built-in tools
Operating systems all offer native parental controls. You can restrict screen time, block certain apps, filter content. In practice, a 10-year-old can bypass these restrictions in a few minutes with a search on a video engine.
Specialized third-party tools offer finer filtering, but they require an initial setup that many parents abandon along the way. Feedback varies on this point: some families find the setup intuitive, while others deem it too technical to maintain over time.
Digital budget for the back-to-school season: a rising expense for families
The share dedicated to digital equipment is increasingly significant in families’ back-to-school budgets. Back-to-school shopping is no longer limited to notebooks and pens, and technological expenses are rising year after year.
Tablet for middle school, educational software license, subscription to an online course platform: these expenses add to traditional supplies. For large families, the bill rises without public assistance keeping pace.
Children’s digital consumption: photos, games, and social networks
The boundary between different digital practices of children is fading, as games now integrate social functions (voice chat, sharing screenshots) and social networks gamify their interfaces.
For parents, the real challenge is no longer to limit “screen time” as a single block. It is about distinguishing passive usage (infinite scrolling of short videos) from active usage (content creation, learning). Guiding without banning everything requires understanding what the child is actually doing online, not just how much time they spend there.
Family digital life: balancing connection and disconnection
It is often said that children should be “disconnected.” In reality, school life, friendships, and even some extracurricular activities rely on digital tools. Removing a teenager from group messaging can sometimes socially isolate them.
The challenge for connected families is to set clear rules without turning every meal into a negotiation about phones. A few concrete guidelines work better than blanket prohibitions:
- Define screen-free time slots rather than a rigid daily quota, which avoids constant bargaining
- Use a shared family account on streaming platforms to maintain visibility on consumed content
- Organize a monthly family review of installed apps, explaining why certain ones are removed
Digital support for children has no universal solution. What works for a family with an 8-year-old does not apply to a household with two teenagers. The balance shifts as the child grows, as platforms evolve, and as regulations become clearer. Staying informed about concrete changes, testing tools yourself before imposing them, and being willing to adjust rules every quarter: this is probably the only constant in this area.