What's wrong with EU age verification?

There is a lot of chatter about online age verification. When the criticism turns to the EU's approach, it tends to be either uninformed or deliberately misleading. Do we need online age verification? This is partly an ideological question. If you think age verification should not exist at all, the technical details won't matter to you. No implementation will be acceptable, because the objection is to age gates themselves, not to any particular mechanism. I am not in that camp. A 9-, 10-, or 14-year-old is not ready to wander the open internet without limits. This isn't just a matter of parental taste. Children and teenagers are still developing the cognitive, emotional, and social skills needed to handle manipulation, addiction loops, sexual content, gambling mechanics, grooming, harassment, algorithmic radicalization, and the rest of what adults themselves often struggle with. Isn't it the family's job to set the limits? Yes and no. When children are very young, parents can set…