On November 11, IT Home reported, citing a Bloomberg report that evening, that the European Union has put forward a plan to tighten oversight of practices that induce or manipulate user behavior so people spend more time and money online.<\/p>\n
The European Commission has published a proposal for a Digital Fairness Act aimed at further strengthening consumer protection. Under the proposal, users would have the right to turn off features that make online services addictive or that encourage overuse, and companies that break the rules could face fines.<\/p>\n
For years the EU has tightened technology regulation around antitrust and privacy. This proposal turns attention to the methods online platforms use to attract billions of users and keep them using services. The new rules are expected to have a major impact on large social platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. E-commerce platforms and AI chatbots could also face limits.<\/p>\n
The Digital Fairness Act would also ban \u201cdark patterns\u201d in online sales\u2014interface designs that induce or deceive consumers into choices they would not otherwise make. Common examples include falsely claiming a product is about to sell out, and deliberately making it hard to cancel a subscription.<\/p>\n
The rules could also restrict AI chatbots from prompting users to keep interacting with them.<\/p>\n
Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner responsible for consumer protection, said: \u201cWe want to make clear that falsely claiming goods or services are in short supply is a \u2018dark pattern\u2019 and therefore must be banned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EU also plans to expand the European Commission\u2019s direct enforcement powers. If a violation affects two-thirds of the EU population, the Commission could step in directly rather than leaving enforcement entirely to national regulators.<\/p>\n
For some violations, the Commission could impose fines of up to 6% of a company\u2019s global annual turnover. The Commission has said smaller companies would not fall under direct enforcement.<\/p>\n
The Digital Fairness Act still has to be negotiated and approved by EU legislative institutions, and it could be substantially amended before it becomes law.<\/p>\n