The European Commission announced on Wednesday a wide-ranging series of consumer law updates to protect European Union citizens against “harmful digital practices”, whether when shopping online, browsing social media or taking Duolingo courses.
As part of the package, the Commission unveiled its Digital Fairness Act to combat harmful practices online. The proposed rules include banning dark patterns, practices that manipulate consumers into making decisions they otherwise wouldn’t, such as falsely claiming a product is almost sold out. They will also limit dynamic pricing by ticket retailers, like Ticketmaster; requiring influencers to disclose when they are paid to promote a product; exclude advertising and personalized pricing targeting minors or taking advantage of sensitive data; facilitate the cancellation of digital subscriptions; and giving consumers the right to interact with human customer service.
The package “represents the most significant reform of EU consumer protection rules in more than 20 years,” according to Michael McGrath, EU Consumer Protection Commissioner, pointing out that existing consumer protection rules were developed before the takeoff of e-commerce, the attention economy and the use of personal data for marketing purposes. “The Digital Equity Act will ensure that the digital economy works for consumers, not against them,” he told a news conference.
The bill will also allow all consumers to opt out of addictive design features on digital services, such as autoplaying videos and footage, including on apps like Strava and Duolingo.
The EU has already restricted some of these designs for children through its Kids Act, which, in addition to banning under-13s from accessing social media and chatbots, targets the addictive designs of these services. Some European rights groups have called for these protections to be extended to all consumers and, teasing the Digital Equity Act in September’s State of the Union address, President Ursula von der Leyen said: “But it’s not just minors who are at risk. Addictive design, for example, harms everyone. That’s why we need a broader framework.”
Some risks are also already regulated by the European Digital Services Act. On Friday, the European Commission said ByteDance’s TikTok broke those rules with the “rabbit hole effect” of its “For You” feed algorithm that personalizes recommended content to users. The tech regulator previously found that TikTok’s “addictive design” broke the rules by including features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay and push notifications, in addition to the algorithm. In July, Meta was found to have broken the law due to similar features on Instagram and Facebook. If confirmed, both companies could now face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover.
The new regulations are designed to fill gaps between the Digital Markets Act and August’s AI Act, Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said, “without duplicating that.” The package should simplify consumer protection rules across the bloc’s 27 members and provide a “strong safety net in the digital world”, she adds.
The Commission aims to accelerate cross-border cooperation through strengthened enforcement rules. The measures would also give the regulator direct power to investigate large-scale impacts and impose fines on companies of up to 6% of their global annual turnover. Non-EU companies would be required to appoint a local legal representative to cooperate with authorities.
Gn bussni
