EU Proposes Digital Fairness Act Targeting Dark Patterns, Addictive Design and Influencers

The Commission presented the act together with a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation. That revision would let Brussels investigate and fine companies directly in large cases that affect consumers in several member states at once, rather than leaving enforcement to national authorities. EU consumer protection commissioner Michael McGrath called the two measures together "the most significant reform of EU consumer protection rules in more than 20 years", according to Euronews.

Platforms, app developers, games publishers and online retailers selling to EU consumers would face a fourth layer of digital regulation on top of the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act. The package also covers online shopping done through AI agents. Companies based outside the EU would have to appoint a legal representative inside the bloc.

Chatbots, Influencers and Loot Boxes

The proposal would ban "dark patterns", design tricks that push users into decisions, such as false claims that a product is about to sell out. Users would get the right to turn off features like autoplay video and infinite scrolling, and services would have to build fairness into their design.

The subscription rules would make cancelling easier. Consumers would be reminded before a free trial turns into a paid plan, and automatic renewals would need an active choice. Consumers would also be able to reach a human rather than only a chatbot when they contact customer service. Companies relying on AI assistants for support would have to plan for that.

Influencers would have to disclose commercial content and would be barred from exploiting children's trust. Euronews described these as the first EU rules written specifically for influencers. Unfair personalised advertising and pricing aimed at minors, or designed to exploit people's vulnerabilities, would be banned. Prices would have to be clearer. Dynamic prices for sports and cultural tickets would have to be shown in real time, and booking fees would have to be disclosed.

Video games get their own measures. Practices that push children to overspend would be restricted, including gambling-style loot boxes and mechanics that pressure players to pay to progress. Conversion rates for in-game virtual currencies would have to be clear. The child-specific limits would not apply in the same way to adults.

Costs and Enforcement

The Commission's impact assessment estimates that the rules would save consumers €88.4 billion in financial losses between 2025 and 2035. Counting the time people lose to unfair practices, it puts the benefit at €13.7 billion a year. It estimates recurring costs for businesses at €678 million a year, after allowing for overlap between measures.

"We are tackling the new unfair commercial practices that distort consumers' choices and put pressure on them," said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice-president for tech, according to Euronews.

Reaction from lawyers and campaigners was mixed. Monika Zdzieborska, a counsel at Clifford Chance, told Euronews the debate would turn on whether the act fills real gaps or just adds another layer, and whether addictive features should be switched off by default. Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal of the digital rights group European Digital Rights argued that the addictive-design rules still rely too heavily on individuals turning features off, rather than on companies preventing harm. "Now comes the uncomfortable part: telling those companies to stop," she said.

The proposals now go to the European Parliament and the 27 member states, which must agree on them before they become law. Consumer groups and representatives of business and the games industry remain divided. The Digital Fairness Act will be negotiated alongside the proposed EU Kids Act, which would put more of the responsibility for protecting children online on companies.