Civil society organisations urge EU to adopt strong Digital Fairness Act
Dozens of civil society and consumer organisations have called on the European Commission to introduce an ambitious Digital Fairness Act to address harmful online business practices and strengthen consumer protections in the digital economy.
A coalition of civil society and consumer protection organisations has called on the European Commission to adopt a strong Digital Fairness Act (DFA) aimed at improving consumer protection in the digital environment. The appeal was published on 13 March 2026, ahead of World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March.
The joint letter, signed by organisations including European Digital Rights (EDRi), BEUC and Amnesty International, argues that current EU consumer protection rules do not sufficiently address unfair practices used by digital platforms and online services.
According to the signatories, digital technologies have become central to everyday life but have also enabled the spread of manipulative commercial practices, including behavioural manipulation, unfair personalisation and misleading design techniques often referred to as dark patterns. These practices can undermine consumer autonomy and may cause financial, mental and social harm.
The organisations note that while the EU has adopted several major digital regulations in recent years, such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act, these frameworks do not fully address broader consumer protection issues across the digital economy.
They argue that the planned Digital Fairness Act should update horizontal EU consumer law, particularly the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which was adopted more than two decades ago and was not designed to address many modern online business models.
The coalition also highlights findings from EU consultations suggesting strong public support for new rules addressing addictive design, influencer marketing, unfair personalisation and manipulative online interfaces.
Civil society groups say the upcoming legislation presents an opportunity to strengthen legal clarity, improve enforcement of consumer protections, and ensure that digital markets operate in a way that respects users’ rights while maintaining fair competition.
