EU targets loot boxes and dark patterns in new fairness rules

EU proposes sweeping online fairness rules

The EU Commission published the Digital Fairness Act on Wednesday to tackle practices that exploit consumers into spending more time and money online, including misleading prices and addictive design features.

The act targets dark patterns and manipulation

The DFA bans manipulative marketing practices and dark patterns that push consumers into decisions they might not otherwise make, such as fake claims about products almost being sold out.

Addictive features must be optional

The act requires consumers to turn off addictive features like persistent prompts, endless scrolling, and autoplay of videos. Restrictions also apply to AI companions and conversational chatbots.

Loot boxes and gambling features restricted for minors

The DFA bans gambling-like features such as pay-to-win and pay-to-progress for minors. Influencers must clearly disclose advertising content and cannot exploit children's trust.

Subscriptions and pricing must be transparent

Companies must make subscriptions and digital contracts easier to cancel with reminders about automatic renewals. Pricing must be clear, especially for dynamic pricing and virtual in-app currency purchases.

Gaming industry pushes back hard

Gaming organizations have already slammed the DFA proposal, describing its restrictions around virtual currencies, loot boxes, and micro-transactions to minors as unworkable, unjustified and disproportionate.

“unworkable, unjustified and disproportionate”

Fines up to six percent of global turnover

The DFA will undergo approvals through the European Parliament and Council of the European Union before becoming law. Companies violating regulations could face fines of up to six percent of worldwide annual turnover.