On Friday 4 October, the European Commission will present its Digital Fairness Fitness Check, a report evaluating consumer protection law with regard to online practices.
This report is a grouped evaluation of three different Directives (the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive), launched in 2022.
The aim is to identify loopholes in the European legislative framework for combatting abusive online practices, particularly in light of the growing power of the various major platforms.
This assessment should also serve as a working basis for the design of the future Digital Fairness Act, mentioned by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in the mission statement of the future Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath.
MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) hope that the report will take up some of the key demands made in the resolution on ‘addictive design’, how social networks and platforms capture and hold users’ attention for commercial purposes. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)