French President Emmanuel Macron said one of his priorities for the Group of Seven presidency will be protecting children from the harmful effects of social media and artificial intelligence, calling on countries like India to support the measures.

“There is no reason our children should be exposed online to what is legally forbidden in the real world,” Macron said at the India AI Summit in New Delhi on Thursday. “One of our priorities during the G-7 presidency will be children’s protection against AI and digital-related abuse.” France holds the rotating presidency of the G-7 in 2026.

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He called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the initiative, saying there was a need for a “new coalition of the willing.” India has already said it’s discussing age-based restrictions with social media companies.

Addressing Modi in the audience, Macron said “I know Mr. Prime Minister you will join this club. This is great news that India will join such an approach to protect children and teenagers.”

Macron highlighted France’s initiative to ban social media networks for children under 15. European nations including the UK and Germany are weighing social media bans for minors, with regulators saying the services are harmful and addictive. In remarks earlier this week in New Delhi, Macron called free-speech defenses of social media platforms “pure bullshit,” pushing back against a key foreign policy plank of US President Donald Trump.

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Modi echoed Macron’s push to protect children online during his own address at the summit on Thursday. “We have to be more alert about children’s safety,” Modi said. “Like their schools’ syllabus is curated, AI space should be child safe and family-guided.”

India’s Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Tuesday the government is holding discussions on “the right way to go forward” with possible age limits for social media and is also addressing the issue of deepfakes with platforms.

Last year, Australia became the first country to ban children under the age of 16 from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.