EU Commission presents digital law: less deception and more human service

A ban on manipulative designs, the ability to turn off addictive features, and better labeled advertising for influencers. These are three of the points with which the EU Commission wants to make the digital existence of consumers safer. “This reform will make everyday life easier, fairer and safer for consumers,” said EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen about the Digital Fairness Act presented on Wednesday.

The draft law is, among other things, the result of various surveys that the EU Commission had carried out among Europeans. The central question is: What are your biggest concerns about digital? The draft now addresses various issues from poorly labeled advertising to addictive mechanisms.

One of the problems that has been known for years and yet remains unsolved: Dark Patterns. These are manipulative designs from online retailers and booking portals, for example, which are intended to entice users to buy more or conclude a contract more quickly.

Classic examples include indications that only a small number of the product is still available or that a large number of other users are currently also looking at this product. The draft law now states: Retailers are not allowed to design their offers in such a way that consumers are manipulated or deceived or that their economic decisions are “significantly distorted”.

Another point: addictive designs. These are particularly popular with online platforms that want to keep users on their site longer. Typical examples are autoplay – after one video ends, the next one starts straight away – and endless scrolling. Users should be able to switch off such functions.

In addition to the requirements of other laws that are already legally binding or are in the works, further protective measures should become mandatory for minors. This includes, for example, the use of virtual currencies in video games being disabled by default.

These virtual currencies can quickly lead to players spending large sums of real money that previously had to be exchanged. The controversial “loot boxes” should also be switched off for minors. These are virtual surprise bags that can sometimes be bought for money in video games - often after a sense of achievement, so that the player is particularly willing to grab them.

In addition, consumers should have the right to communicate with a human contact person in customer service. This is likely to become increasingly relevant given the tendency of many providers to handle at least the first level of support using AI chat.

The Digital Fairness Act is not the first EU law on digital consumer protection. However, EU Commissioner Michael McGrath said it was the "most ambitious reform of EU consumer protection rules in a generation". The EU Commission's proposals will now go to the European Parliament and the member states. It will probably take several months or years until all actors have reached an agreement.