Background
The AdWiseOnline campaign is running in a partnership between the EC’s DG CONNECT and DG JUST policy frameworks, as well as the public-facing networks of European Safer Internet Centres (SICs) and European Consumer Centres (ECC-Net) within the framework of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) project.
Legal frameworks for online consumers
Digital apps are omnipresent and concerns soar to protect children as consumers in the digital environment.
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive sets rules in relation to misleading, aggressive, or otherwise unfair commercial practices including marketing practices. It protects all consumers, including children, in stores or online. It considers children a group of consumers who are particularly vulnerable to such practices and prohibits direct exhortation towards children.
Under the Digital Services Act, ‘dark patterns’ are prohibited. This term describes deceptive online interface designs intended to influence and trick users into rash actions, purchases, or complicating the cancellation of subscribed services (R 67). Platforms cannot display adverts based on profiling and targeting if they are certain that a user is a minor (Art. 28). Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube are required to alert users to advertising content and the advertiser’s name especially when targeting minors (Art. 39).
Background
The AdWiseOnline campaign is running in a partnership between the EC’s DG CONNECT and DG JUST policy frameworks, as well as the public-facing networks of European Safer Internet Centres (SICs) and European Consumer Centres (ECC-Net) within the framework of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) project.
Legal frameworks for online consumers
Digital apps are omnipresent and concerns soar to protect children as consumers in the digital environment.
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive sets rules in relation to misleading, aggressive, or otherwise unfair commercial practices including marketing practices. It protects all consumers, including children, in stores or online. It considers children a group of consumers who are particularly vulnerable to such practices and prohibits direct exhortation towards children.
Under the Digital Services Act, ‘dark patterns’ are prohibited. This term describes deceptive online interface designs intended to influence and trick users into rash actions, purchases, or complicating the cancellation of subscribed services (R 67). Platforms cannot display adverts based on profiling and targeting if they are certain that a user is a minor (Art. 28). Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube are required to alert users to advertising content and the advertiser’s name especially when targeting minors (Art. 39).
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