Duolingo, Strava, and Ticketmaster Are All Caught Up in EU’s New Digital Fairness Rules
Winning streaks can be turned off and influencers will be forced to reveal when they’re being paid under the new Digital Fairness Act aimed at tackling “dark patterns” on platforms and services.
The European Commission has introduced a new Digital Fairness Act aimed at tackling harmful online practices. Among the rules proposed are bans on "dark patterns" that manipulate consumers, such as falsely displaying limited stock, and curbing dynamic pricing by ticket vendors like Ticketmaster. The legislation will also limit personalized advertising and pricing targeting minors or sensitive data, as well as making digital subscriptions simpler to cancel. Consumers will gain the right to interact with human customer service representatives.
The Digital Fairness Act is a significant reform of EU consumer protection rules, according to the EC Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath. It addresses issues that emerged with the rise of ecommerce, attention economy, and the use of personal data for marketing. The act aims to ensure the digital economy benefits consumers, not the other way around.
The package also enables consumers to disable addictive design features in digital services, such as autoplay and streaks, on apps like Strava and Duolingo. Some of these practices have already been restricted for children under the Kids Act. EU rights groups have called for these protections to be extended to all consumers, as President Ursula von der Leyen previewed in her State of the Union address. She emphasized that addictive design harms everyone, not just minors.
Some of the risks are already regulated by the EU Digital Services Act. In July, the Commission found TikTok and Meta in breach of the rules due to "addictive design" features including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and personalized content feeds. If confirmed, both companies could face fines up to 6 percent of their worldwide annual turnover.
The new regulation aims to fill gaps between the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act, providing a "strong safety net in the digital world," according to executive vice president Henna Virkkunen.
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