Overview
- The European Commission unveiled the draft Digital Fairness Act this week, proposing rules that make cancelling subscriptions as easy as signing up and explicitly ban identified 'dark patterns' such as fake scarcity messages.
- The text would tighten rules for e-commerce and ticketing by banning false discounts, requiring clear price and availability displays, and forcing platforms to show real-currency values for virtual items.
- For games and young users the draft would disable purchasable in‑game currency by default for under‑18s, ban lootboxes aimed at minors and prohibit pay‑to‑win mechanics in products directed at children.
- Influencers would have to label paid posts clearly and personalised advertising to children or other vulnerable groups would be restricted while the Commission gains powers to investigate large cross‑border breaches and levy fines up to 6% of global turnover.
- The proposal is a regulation meant to harmonise EU consumer law and sits alongside the DSA and DMA; it now enters formal negotiations in the European Parliament and Council and could take years to adopt, with debates expected over enforcement scope, overlap with existing rules and burdens on publishers and small businesses.