Governement should force companies to give parental controls tools. Gaming companies like Nintendo and Steam do that, I can create a kid account with parental controls.

Social media companies (e.g. Meta, Snap) are the first that should provide that but they don't.

Band and severely punish systematic violations of privacy.

Regulate the poison first, not the access to it. All this age verification nonsense is an admission that some platforms knowingly harm their users. And instead of fixing the issue by cracking down on the proverbial crack, governments make everybody's life worse.

I remain hopeful that one day, humans will regard the online advertising companies with the same scorn we do the tobacco industry and may they be ashamed and disgusted at our inaction.

So you're implying alcohol and cigarettes should be sold to children?

(Not to mention all the other consent age laws.)

That said, VPN is a national security issue, children are only a pretext.