> Something remarkable and unsettling is how the age verification debate has popped up almost simultaneously in the US, UK, and EU.

Not really. Everyone wanted this for a decade or longer. They just waited for someone taking the first step, checking the reactions, to see how it will work out.

> With the same logical fallacies.

Same knowledge often leads to similar conclusions.

> Controlling what children do online is a solved problem: Parenting and parental control applications.

Do you have any relevant experience with this "solution"?