IMCO to Vote Next Week on Protection of Minors Online

What the 16 October IMCO vote means for the DFA; the Digital Fairness Dashboard; and meetings with interest representatives

Welcome to the EU Digital Fairness Act Newsletter by James Tamim. I provide news and updates on the Digital Fairness Act.

On September 24^th, 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 16^th 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.

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

Foundational Reads for the DFA

I curated the following books because they offer real insight for people engaging with the Digital Fairness Act, whether you’re drafting policy, advising stakeholders, building compliant products, or just trying to understand its contours. The links below are Amazon affiliate links, if you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

• Dark Patterns, Deceptive Design, and the Law by Mark Leiser

• Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World by Adele Zeynep Walton

• Deceptive Patterns Exposing the Tricks Tech Companies Use to Control You by Harry Brignull

Dark Patterns, Deceptive Design, and the Law by Mark Leiser

Lobby Ledger

Here is a log of all known meetings between interest representatives and EU institutions on the Digital Fairness Act and Protection of Minors Online. Since August 28^th 2025.

Meetings with Commissioner Michael McGrath and Egelyn Braun

• 03/09/2025: Motion Picture Association EMEA (MPA EMEA) | Minutes

• 03/09/2025: European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), News Media Europe (NME), European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) | Minutes

• 28/08/2025: Allegro, John Sisk & Son | Minutes

Meetings with MEPs on the DFA

• 25/09/2025: Pan European Game Information (PEGI) | MEP Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová

• 10/09/2025: Handelsverband Deutschland e.V. (HDE) | MEP Marion Walsmann

• 09/09/2025: Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) | MEP Aura Salla

• 05/09/2025: Pan European Game Information (PEGI) | MEP Aura Salla

• 03/09/2025: Pan European Game Information (PEGI) | MEP Christel Schaldemose

Meetings with MEPs on the Protection of minors online

• 23/09/2025: World Federation of Advertisers | MEP Kosma Złotowski

• 17/09/2025: European Digital Rights | MEP Leila Chaibi

• 10/09/2025: Youtube | MEP Marco Squarta

• 09/09/2025: Google | MEP Elisabeth Dieringer

• 03/09/2025: DOT Europe | MEP Christel Schaldemose

Meetings with MEP Laura Ballarín Cereza on the Protection of minors online

• 29/09/2025: OpenAI

• 29/09/2025: DOT Europe

• 22/09/2025: Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC)

• 19/09/2025: Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM)

• 18/09/2025: The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)

• 18/09/2025: Euroconsumers

• 17/09/2025: TikTok

• 17/09/2025: Youtube

• 16/09/2025: DFA team (DG JUST - European Commission)

• 15/09/2025: KidsUnplugged

• 15/09/2025: Meta

• 12/09/2025: 5Rights Foundation, Eurochild

Meeting with Secretariat-General

• 09/17/2025: Nils Behrndt | European Tech Alliance

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:

• Cabinet Mcgrath: Egelyn Braun - Lucie Rousselle

• European Commision: Ana Gallego - Irena Moozova – Isabelle Pérignon – Maria Kanellopoulou – And more

• 5Rights: Manon Baert

• Allegro: Miroslawa Kawala

• Associação Portuguesa para a Defesa do Consumidor (Deco): Paulo Fonseca

• BEUC: Patrycja Gautier

• Bitkom: Susanne Dehmel

• Booking: Carolin Wehrhahn

• BusinessEurope: Maria Therese Lein

• Ceconomy (MediaWorld): Emanuele Cosimelli

• Danish Consumer Council (Forbrugerrådet Tænk): Esben Geist

• DigitalEurope: Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl

• Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF): Sarah Lacoche

• Dot Europe: Constantin Gissler

• dTest: Jan Šůra

• EDRI: Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal

• Eurocommerce: Christel Delberghe

• European Tech Alliance: Victoria de Posson

• Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto (KKV): Riikka Rosendahl

• Medialiitto (Finnmedia): Riikka Tähtivuori

• Netflix: Madeleine de Cock Buning

• Prestashop: Atalante de Vilallonga

• SMEunited: Sophia Zakari

• Spanish Consumer Association (OCU): Enrique Garcia Lopez

• Spotify: Olivia Regnier

• Test Achat (euroconsumers): Els Bruggeman

• The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM): Edwin van Houten

• Ubisoft: Emmanuel Martin

• UFC-Que Choisir: Frithjof Michaelsen

• Vorständin Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband: Ramona Pop

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

Timeline

• 16/10/2025: IMCO Vote on Protection of minors online INI (Amendments)

• 24/10/2025: End of Consultation for the DFA

• 12/11/2025: Indicative EP plenary sitting for Protection of minors online report

• End of November: CPAG Meeting

• Q4 2025: Adoption of the 2025–2030 Consumer Agenda

• Q3 2026: Commission publishes DFA proposal

Stay in Touch

As always, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or at james@edpi.eu if you have any requests, questions, or just want to say hi!