Germany to supports EU ban on dark patterns
While current EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act already ban certain forms of manipulation, German authorities argue that enforcement remains inconsistent and that loopholes persist.
Germany would support a European Union-wide ban on dark patterns and addictive design in digital services. These manipulative interface strategies, often used to maximise user engagement or extract consent, include tactics such as difficult-to-access opt-outs, deceptive consent prompts, and features designed to capture attention, frequently for commercial purposes.
The German government, led by Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, is advocating for these practices to be explicitly prohibited under the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act. While current EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act already ban certain forms of manipulation, German authorities argue that enforcement remains inconsistent and that loopholes persist. They are urging the European Commission to fully utilise existing legal instruments and close any remaining gaps in oversight or legal definitions.
At the EU level, concern over digital manipulation is growing. A recent European Parliament resolution highlighted the ongoing risks posed by addictive design elements like infinite scrolling and autoplay, particularly to the mental health of young users. The resolution calls on the European Commission to evaluate the sufficiency of existing frameworks, including the DSA, GDPR, and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and to propose new legislation if needed. The goal is to ensure that regulatory tools not only exist but are applied uniformly and effectively across the EU.
In Germany, consumer protection organisations such as the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) continue to document cases of manipulative design in popular applications and online marketplaces. These groups are calling for stronger enforcement mechanisms and clear general rules to be included in the upcoming Digital Fairness Act. Germany’s financial regulator, BaFin, has already issued guidelines banning the use of dark patterns in financial services and signalled its willingness to act against platforms that do not comply.
Dark patterns refer to design choices that trick or pressure users into taking actions they may not want, such as giving consent for data tracking or inadvertently signing up for paid services. Addictive design, on the other hand, uses psychological triggers like variable rewards, autoplay features, and continuous content feeds to keep users engaged longer than they might intend, often at the expense of their autonomy and wellbeing.
