BRUSSELS (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed banning children under 13 from accessing social media, online games and chatbots on Wednesday during her annual State of the European Union speech in Strasbourg.
“I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree,” said the EU executive.
“We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images,” she said.
Von der Leyen said that under her proposal “mini accounts” chaperoned by guardians would be granted to kids aged 13-15.
The EU’s 27 member nations will now vote on the proposal, which could spark tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long criticized Europe’s tech regulations.
Von der Leyen used her speech to advance a plan that she foreshadowed earlier this year, when she said kids should be exposed to social media in a “phased and gradual” way.
The commission’s proposal is part of a wider ongoing debate playing out worldwide on how to protect young people online.
In the United States, social media company Meta Platforms last month agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to resolve a trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by nearly every state.
Meanwhile, individual countries in Europe and in other places like Australia and New Zealand have taken their own steps to ban teens from social media platforms. But some of those efforts have run into roadblocks. France’s top court last month struck down a law banning children under 15 from social media, saying it infringed on fundamental freedoms. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rework the proposal.
Manfred Weber, the head of the largest group in the European Parliament, spoke after von der Leyen to propose that the EU follow Australia's lead in allowing citizens to switch off social media algorithms.
“Elon Musk will not like it, but probably that is a reason for doing it,” he said.
This story has been edited to correct the spelling of Manfred Weber's name.
Chan reported from London.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives to attend the International Space Summit in Paris Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Abdul Saboor/Pool Photo via AP)
A building housing displaced Palestinian families collapsed in Gaza City on Wednesday, killing at least 16 people, most of them women and children. The multistory structure was heavily damaged during the Israel-Hamas war and there had been warnings about its safety.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said late on Tuesday that its air defenses, which have been fending off attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, had intercepted a drone that the kingdom said was headed toward its holy city of Mecca.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
A damaged building in Gaza City housing about six displaced families collapsed on Wednesday morning, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 25. Among the dead were eight children and five women, according to Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry. The toll was expected to rise as more bodies were recovered from the wreckage on Wednesday morning.
Video showed civil defense crews surveying the wreckage and using bulldozers to dig out people, including children.
The building had been partially destroyed in an Israeli strike earlier in the war. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse, but in Gaza — where the majority of buildings have been damaged or destroyed — dozens of bombed-out multistory structures have collapsed throughout the war, particularly during winter weather.
Building collapses have become a major hazard in Gaza. Displaced families have often returned from tent camps to homes damaged by bombardment during the almost three years of war.
Saudi military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the kingdom's defenses intercepted and destroyed a drone on Tuesday evening before it entered the airspace over Mecca, Islam’s holiest city and a focal point for followers of the faith.
Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the location of the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped structure that Muslims around the world turn to five times a day when praying. Muslims believe Muhammad first received God’s revelations of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, in Mecca.
The security of the holy city is “a red line,” al-Malki said, adding that Saudi forces will not hesitate to act against “hostile and terrorist behavior.”
The Iran-backed Houthis in neighboring Yemen denied targeting Mecca. But the allegation drew condemnations throughout the Islamic world, including from Pakistan and the 57-country Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
Palestinians inspect a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
