EU's plan to tackle manipulative digital practices will benefit consumers

The European Commission will publish tomorrow its proposal for a Digital Fairness Act (DFA), a long-awaited initiative to strengthen consumer protection against unfair commercial practices online. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) supports the proposal, which will introduce clearer guardrails. The DFA is part of a larger plan to modernise consumer law, which includes giving the European Commission powers to ensure companies comply with the rules.  

The Digital Fairness Act will rightly aim to prohibit or restrict practices such as dark patterns, addictive design, influencer marketing, untransparent virtual currencies, unfair personalisation or pricing. They are designed to unfairly hook people’s attention and make them spend more time and money online without them noticing.

BEUC Director General Agustín Reyna commented:  

“The Digital Fairness Act is a much-needed tool to give consumers back control of how much time and money they spend online. Digital markets have for too long left consumers feeling disempowered and frustrated in a maze of complex cancellation processes for subscriptions they do not want, untransparent ticket pricing, or ‘low stock’ warnings that pressure them. When websites are designed to exploit consumers’ vulnerabilities, the legislators must introduce clear redlines, and this is what the Digital Fairness Act is for.

“People expect that influencers provide genuine advice or tips, not to be quietly sold the latest anti-wrinkle cream or fashionable outfit. If someone is promoting products on social media, it should be clearly stated. Advertising should always be labelled, so consumers know when they are being marketed to.

"Ultimately the Digital Fairness Act is about rebalancing the digital economy, so it becomes fairer for everyone. We count on the European Parliament and the Council to stand firm behind the proposal's objective and ensure that these common-sense protections become part of Europe’s digital rulebook.”  

Background:  

• The DFA is part of the Consumer Initiative Package, which also includes a proposal to update the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation. Business and consumer organisations have long called for this update. It will provide clarity and increase the involvement for organisations submitting alerts, among other improvements. 
• What gaps the DFA fills: Twenty years ago, in 2005, the EU adopted the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) that prohibits unfair commercial practices in business-to-consumer (B2C) relations. Since then, B2C relations have increasingly moved online, and new forms of unfair commercial practices have emerged. In recent years, the EU has adopted legislation, like the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), to tackle specific issues in the digital environment. But the scope of these laws is limited. EU consumer law, particularly the UCPD, remains a relevant ‘safety net’ for consumers, setting minimum requirements that apply in all sectors. But this safety net needed to be reworked.
• According to a study published by the Commission in 2022, 97% of the most popular websites and apps used by EU consumers featured at least one dark pattern.
• Read more about BEUC's recommendations on the DFA in our position paper: Towards the Digital Fairness Act
• Read the letter BEUC co-signed calling for an ambitious Digital Fairness Act: Joint call for an ambitious Digital Fairness Act to better protect people online

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) will issue a comment on the proposal once it is officially published tomorrow.