The European Commission has proposed fines of up to six per cent of companies’ annual global turnover for unfair online business practices, including manipulative sales tactics and the use of personalised advertising targeting children.
The proposed Digital Fairness Act (DFA) aims to strengthen consumer protection by restricting digital practices that manipulate users into making purchases or influence their online behaviour.
EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said the proposed rules would ensure that businesses compete on the quality of their products and services rather than their ability to exploit consumers or circumvent regulations.
“Our consumer protection rules will help ensure that businesses compete on the merits of their products and services, not on their ability to exploit consumers or their ability to evade the rules,” McGrath said.
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Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, McGrath said the legislation was not intended to make business operations more difficult but to prevent companies from gaining an unfair advantage through exploitative practices.
“We are not making it harder to do business, we are making it harder to do business unfairly,” he said.
The proposed legislation seeks to ban manipulative online designs, commonly known as dark patterns, and tackle addictive features in digital products, misleading influencer marketing, deceptive pricing practices and subscription traps.
The Commission said these practices cost consumers billions of euros annually.
However, the proposal has faced criticism from some businesses over concerns about potential overlaps with existing legislation and a separate EU initiative to protect children from online dangers.
The Digital Fairness Act is part of the EU’s broader efforts to strengthen oversight of major technology companies and online platforms.
