Law No. 2022-300 of March 2, 2022, which aims to strengthen the regulation of parental control functions on Internet access devices, gives the ANFR a new responsibility: it is responsible for supervising the setting up of free parental control functions on Internet access end devices. Under the law, device manufacturers must provide the option to activate this feature when they first enable the device and ensure that it has the minimum functional requirements.
In accordance with this law, Decree No. 2023-5881, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic (JORF) of July 13, 2023, further clarifies and regulates the specific requirements and characteristics of parental controls, as well as the responsibilities of the ANFR. The decree clearly states that its provisions will come into force 12 months after their publication, i.e. from July 13, 2024.
The implementation of this law imposes new requirements on manufacturers: they need to integrate parental controls for their end devices on the market, and provide options for activation and configuration when the device is first booted.
For second-hand devices placed on the market before July 13, 2024, the person selling such devices is required to inform users that they can install parental controls on their devices in order to restrict minors' access to certain services or content that may be harmful to them. For second-hand devices placed on the market after July 13, 2024, the same rules apply to new devices and must be equipped with parental controls.