Gambling was already regulated though, extending that to digital gambling isn't a stretch. There aren't regulations that I'm aware of that fit for specifically what the EU is doing here.

We can always add more regulations, though there's an official process to it. There is a line though, and while I absolutely see value in some regulations given how complex we've made society, a government with full authority to deem what is and is not appropriate for any specific group of people is extremely heavy handed.

I don't actually want to give social media companies the benefit of the doubt. People shouldn't use that trash and parents should be helping their kids decide if those apps are actually something they want to use. If people really see the value in that kind if app, though, we only avoid the problem rather than fix it by banning apps or limiting access from the top down.

> We can always add more regulations, though there's an official process to it.

Right, I feel like ultimately this is a debate about what happens in that window.

“There is no regulation in this potentially dangerous area, companies should be free to do what they wish while we craft regulation”

vs

“There is no regulation in this potentially dangerous area, we should heavily limit what companies can do while we craft regulation”

Yeah that's an old debate for sure. Its effectively an offshoot of the question of whether governments have power by default unless limited by the people, or if power is granted at the lowest level unless specifically given to the higher authorities.

In this case, it seems like having regulations is a horse and pony show if the government can enforce regulations that don't yet exist. In the most kind view, writing regulations is helpful so we at least know what they already plan to enforce. In a pessimistic view, writing regulations is only done to help the public think that everything is above board and that power isn't, and won't, be abused.