EU proposes sweeping digital fairness rules for online services
The European Commission has proposed a Digital Fairness Act to update consumer protection across the European Union for an online economy built around ecommerce, personal data and attention-grabbing design. The legislation would ban “dark patterns” that steer people into choices they might not otherwise make, such as falsely suggesting that a product is nearly sold out. It would also curb dynamic pricing by ticket retailers such as Ticketmaster and require influencers to disclose paid promotions.
The proposal would prohibit personalized advertising and pricing aimed at minors or based on sensitive data, make digital subscriptions easier to cancel and give consumers the right to speak with human customer-service staff. Everyone would also be able to switch off addictive features such as autoplay and streaks on services including Duolingo and Strava.
The Commission says the act is intended to fill gaps between existing EU rules, including the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act and AI Act. Those rules have already been used to scrutinize TikTok’s personalized “For You” feed and addictive design, while Meta has faced similar findings concerning Instagram and Facebook. If confirmed, the companies could face fines of up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover. The proposed package would strengthen cross-border enforcement, give regulators direct powers to investigate large-scale harm and require non-EU companies to appoint a local legal representative.
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