Overview
- An expert commission delivered detailed recommendations in early July, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says she will turn them into a legislative proposal after the summer.
- Germany’s family minister has pressed for a fast EU law and warned Berlin may introduce national measures if the EU process takes too long.
- The Commission has drawn up technical options for age checks, including a minimal‑data verification app and device‑based parental attestations, but privacy groups warn that identity‑linked checks would create a risky control infrastructure.
- Experience from Australia shows large account deletions can be easily circumvented, raising doubts about the practical enforceability of blanket age bans and pushing debate toward regulating addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay.
- Stakeholders are divided: consumer groups prefer banning manipulative design, civil‑rights groups demand strong privacy safeguards, neuroscientists support age‑differentiated protection, and youth representatives want a say in decisions that affect them.