EU Proposes Digital Fairness Act to Curb Addictive App Features
The European Union has proposed rules that would let users disable features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling, while banning online designs that trick people into purchases. The draft also targets influencer promotions, hidden checkout fees and some video game purchases by minors.
The European Union proposed a consumer law on Wednesday that would let users switch off features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling, as part of the e.u proposing rules ban on deceptive online practices. The draft Digital Fairness Act would also allow fines of up to six percent of a company’s annual turnover in large-scale cases.
The proposal targets features that can steer users into unwanted purchases or settings, alongside influencer promotions and hidden fees. The European Commission said the measures could save EU consumers up to 13.7 billion euros ($15.3 billion) a year.
The draft would ban “dark patterns” that trick people into buying something or opting into settings without their knowledge. Platforms would have to let users disable “addictive features,” including automatic video playback and endless scrolling.
Brands would need to label influencer promotions clearly, with terms such as “advertisement.” Companies would also have to remind consumers when free trials end, giving the end date and the price to continue.
The proposal would prohibit “pay-to-win” and “pay-to-progress” features, as well as loot boxes, for minors. It would also require games to show the real-world value of virtual currencies.
Consumers could demand access to a human customer service representative. If they authorize an AI agent to buy a product for them, they would retain the same rights as if they had made the purchase themselves.
EU consumer protection chief Michael McGrath said the rules aim to protect households facing pressure from living costs. “Consumers must be able to trust that the prices they see are the prices they pay, and that they are not being manipulated into spending more than they intend,” he said.
The commission could investigate and sanction companies if an issue affected two-thirds of the European Union’s 450-million population, McGrath said. The draft would also require sellers to show the full order price before checkout, addressing “drip pricing,” in which fees appear late in the purchase process.
The proposal would not ban dynamic pricing, where businesses change prices according to demand. Ticket sellers would instead have to disclose how many tickets are available at each price.
BusinessEurope warned the draft risks “introducing unnecessary obligations and overlapping requirements that undermine legal certainty and run counter to the EU's simplification agenda.” Video game industry groups the European Games Developer Federation and Video Games Europe called the legislation “unworkable, unjustified and disproportionate.”
Spanish EU lawmaker Laura Ballarin Cereza said the proposal seeks to create a “safer online space for everyone, children and adults alike.”
