Europe’s Minor Protection Tightrope: How to Protect Young Users Without Censoring the Internet
Main takeaways
- Blanket restrictions on online content for minors will stifle creativity and disproportionately harm users who rely on online support and resources
- Age-appropriate design of online services, tailored to different ages and levels of maturity, is what truly enables users to navigate the online world safely and privately
- Promoting responsible online behaviour will allow young Europeans to stay connected, while allowing online services to respect the EU regulatory framework
Everyone in the digital sector shares responsibility for safeguarding young people online. Yet as policymakers across Europe debate new measures to protect minors on the internet, a pressing question arises: aren’t we about to inadvertently curb the very freedoms that once made the internet a space for growth, creativity, and connection?
In our shared mission to protect minors, we must avoid taking one step forward and three steps back by restricting access to online content – regardless of whether those measures are harmonised at the EU level or remain fragmented across Member States. While no one disputes the importance and urgency of protecting young people, content restrictions can quickly become a slippery slope. They raise serious concerns about freedom of expression and access to information – fundamental rights that are central to European democracy.
As history has repeatedly shown, from comic books and television shows to music and video games, moral panic-driven bans lead to overbroad restrictions that stifle creativity and curiosity. Worse still, they can also disproportionately harm vulnerable or marginalised communities, especially those who rely on online spaces for connection and support.
We must ensure that protective measures are always proportionate and do not lead to blanket bans that limit, restrict, or censor the online experience. True empowerment means giving young people the skills and tools needed to navigate the digital world safely and privately. They should have the confidence to make informed decisions and take responsible action, without constantly being shielded from reality.
1. Why uniform rules fail young users
In policymaking, much like our personal relationships, there’s rarely a partner or friend who can swoop in and fix everything for us. Likewise, a rigid standardised model for minor protection risks ignoring the diversity of today’s online ecosystem. We should not add further restrictive mandates, but rather build a dynamic environment that continues to evolve alongside a user’s experience and maturity.
Diverse online services pose very different challenges. That’s why a risk-based approach helps to ensure that responsibility scales with exposure, avoiding the pitfalls of overreach where uniform compliance undermines practical safety objectives. Embracing this flexibility will also encourage design solutions that account for different ages and levels of maturity – striking a better balance between innovation and protection.
At the same time, the proposals for exhaustive age-verification systems that are currently being considered in several EU Member States, particularly those requiring hard ID uploads (i.e. photos and copies of sensitive documents), risk disrupting the fragile balance between safety and privacy, unless they can truly guarantee unobservability. Any form of age verification that relies on excessive data collection increases vulnerability to misuse and opens new doors for malicious actors.
Instead of heavy-handed verification regimes, Europe should focus on building a trust framework that enables users of all ages to engage safely online, while still upholding the highest standards of privacy and security.
2. Strengthening minor protection with the existing EU rules
Europe should pursue a harmonised, EU-wide approach that builds on the current legal framework with the use of currently available privacy-enhancing technologies.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) has already introduced specific due diligence obligations and transparency requirements for online services. These provide the very foundation for effectively strengthening Europe’s framework to protect minors. What is needed now is streamlined implementation, greater digital literacy, and stronger collaboration among actors across the value chain.
Indeed, the recent DSA Article 28 guidelines provide a clear path forward to ensure that minors’ online interactions are safe, secure, and private. All industry players should prioritise implementing these guidelines to guarantee minor protection across their services.
Age assurance remains a complex issue with no one-size-fits-all solution. Online services adopt different approaches based on factors such as their type of service, user base, perceived risks, users’ privacy and security expectations, and economic feasibility, among others. Here, examining the accuracy and impact of different approaches and relying on industry best practices is essential.
3. Upholding freedom of expression in the age of digital protection
The next step for enhancing online safety in the EU should be implementing the eIDAS framework for securing cross-border transactions in a clear, consistent manner. Such rules should promote interoperability across EU Member States and provide legal certainty for businesses and users alike. As the system continues to further mature, extending current digital wallets offers a pragmatic bridge, balancing ambition and feasibility.
Yet, safety must never come at the cost of silencing voices. Overreach risks creating regulatory rift between innovation and protection. We need to ensure that the new measures currently under consideration do not end up stifling our freedom of expression.
Promoting responsible online behaviour is about equipping minors with the right skills and tools to navigate risks themselves. Rather than imposing content restrictions, the most effective way to build online resilience is by strengthening young Europeans’ digital literacy and critical thinking skills.
We must also guard against the over-removal of lawful content. Children – and the adults they will become one day – need a digital environment that encourages curiosity and open conversation, not censorship. Otherwise, Europe risks turning the internet into a landscape dominated by overcorrection, government-imposed morality, and lost curiosity.
Conclusion
Children should be protected from genuine harm online, but not to the extent that they are too restricted or afraid to explore, learn, and express themselves. A harmonised, predictable, and straightforward framework built on existing EU rules will ensure that safety and self-expression can continue to coexist in the European Union. Only then can Europe truly offer young people a digital space where they can explore and grow under protection that empowers, not confines.
