IMCO to Vote Next Week on Protection of Minors Online

By James Tamim - 07/10/2025

What the 16 October IMCO vote means for the DFA, and the Digital Fairness Dashboard.

On September 24th, the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) discussed amendments and compromises for the “protection of minors online” report. The committee is set to vote on the adoption of the draft report on October 16th at 9:30am.

The protection of minors online report, if adopted in plenary in November, will the official position of the European Parliament. The rapporteur of the report Christel Schaldemose (S&D), alongside other MEPs and experts believe it may feed into the Digital Fairness Act.

Summary of MEP Interventions on Protection of Minors Online

MEPs took their turn to voice their opinion on the report. Here is a summary of what the rapporteur and shadows stated:

🔴 Christel Schaldemose (S&D) seeks ambitious cross-group compromises. Exploring:

  1. prohibiting “gambling-like” features (e.g., loot boxes) and requiring real-currency transparency;

  2. mandatory, privacy-preserving age assurance/verification and a possible EU-wide age limit for access to social media;

  3. clarifying platform liability via Article 28 guidelines without reopening the DSA.

Signals the report should guide DSA enforcement and inform the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA).

🔵 Pablo Arias Echeverría (Speaking on behalf of Dóra Dávid) (EPP) supports a harmonised EU approach. Calls for effective, reliable, non-intrusive age checks; under-16 access to social media/video-sharing only with parental consent; no profiling-based content for minors; extend DSA-equivalent protections to video games; restrict gambling-like mechanics and require transparency for in-game currencies; curb “kidfluencing”; strengthen enforcement of DSA/UCPD and focus on gaps.

🟢 Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA) urges bans on addictive design (e.g., endless scroll) and tackling profiling/engagement-driven recommender systems; wants user-controlled feeds. Supports privacy-preserving age checks via the EU wallet (red/green signal), opposes intrusive/guess-based age estimation; seeks safeguards so protection does not expand tracking. Asks Commission which age-assurance methods are safest and whether the wallet can/should be the preferred option.

🔵 Elisabeth Dieringer-Granza (PfE) warns against state surveillance via age verification; demands user-verifiable, data-protection-friendly solutions; prioritises parental responsibility and tools; opposes algorithmic interventions and a general ban on loot boxes; cautions against over-regulation and restrictions on freedom of expression.

🟡 Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew) backs an ambitious position ahead of the DFA. Supports obligatory age verification with strong privacy guarantees, leveraging the EU digital identity wallet and coherent parental-consent rules; targets dark patterns, influencer marketing, and games-of-chance features; stresses EU-level rules to avoid fragmentation and the need for digital-literacy measures.

🔵 Kosma Złotowski (ECR) opposes EU-level norms on screen-time or account-age thresholds; rejects EU identity/content verification online; emphasises parental primacy over top-down obligations; favours fewer prohibitions and more family trust.

🔴 Leila Chaibi (LEFT) was absent and did not designate a replacement.

FreshFields EU Digital Fairness Dashboard

Freshfields has released an invite-only EU Digital Fairness Dashboard that lets you quickly scan key DFA themes and compare how related practices are already treated across the EU consumer/digital-law stack (UCPD, CRD, GDPR, DMA/DSA, Data Act, etc.). It’s designed for fast filtering and side-by-side comparisons, handy for mapping overlaps/gaps and briefing clients or internal stakeholders.

Get Access

Freshfields notes the dashboard was commissioned and funded by Meta but prepared independently in a neutral, informational capacity and does not constitute legal advice.

DFA Implementation dialogue with Commissioner McGrath

In July, Commissioner Michael McGrath hosted an implementation dialogue on consumer protection in the digital environment. Although this event was hosted a while ago, you may still find the list of attendees of interest:

If readers would like more information about the event, I may share additional details about it in my next posts.

Timeline