Ireland should push for teenager social media ban during EU presidency, says French children's commissioner

She said the index would work similarly to France's 'nutri-score' system, which ranks food based on overall nutritional quality using a five-colour scale from dark green to dark orange, on the front of packs.

Stressing the need for a similar easy-to-read warning index to make clear the risk digital individual platforms pose to children and teenagers, she said: "Food is for the body, digital is for the mind".

Ms El Haïry was speaking in Dublin after France adopted laws banning access to social media for children under the age of 15.

"The momentum is important," Ms El Haïry said on a social media ban, adding that Ireland's presidency of the EU provides a unique "opportunity" given the fact that so many large tech companies have headquarters here.

"By banning social media for children under 15, France has chosen to act. But no country can protect its children sustainably on its own. In the face of global platforms, our responsibility is now to build a European response.

"Just as Europe established a global benchmark for data protection through the GDPR, it can now become the world's leading reference for the protection of children's rights. Our European vision is clear: a Europe that protects more effectively, genuinely listens to children, and shapes the digital world with them rather than against them," she said.

Ms El Haïry, a former minister for youth in the French government, said Ireland now must take advantage of the influential position it has over the coming months.

"I was a minister during the French presidency of the EU. It's what speeds things up. It's an opportunity that the Irish presidency has, in terms of advancing child protection, where the European headquarters are for tech companies.

"We banned kids working in factories, we protected the right to education in international law. 

Today, we're not protecting kids from algorithms.

The protection of children online has been cited as a core priority for Ireland during its six-month EU presidency term.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has stated that his preference would be to implement a social media ban for children on an EU-wide basis, adding that there is a "growing groundswell" of national Governments that believe action must be taken to protect young people.

However, he added that the precise mechanisms of a social media ban would have to be worked out.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has also stressed the need to address the harm being caused to young people.

“We need to set the age at which children can legally access social media,” Ms von der Leyen said at a press conference last month. “We need to consider phased and gradual access for different age ranges.”

While France has imposed a social media ban on teenagers, Ms El Haïry said children must not be fully excluded from the digital world.

"We really must protect children because this revolution is so massive; it's important for health, for children, for democracy.

She added that the ban should not be seen as a "punitive action" and instead should be viewed as protecting young people, similar to age limits on alcohol or smoking.

• Elaine Loughlin is Political Editor.