Joint call: An ambitious Digital Fairness Act to better protect people online
EuroHealthNet joined over 200 organisations and academics to call on the European Commission for a strong Digital Fairness Act that delivers meaningful protection online for all, including vulnerable groups such as minors, seniors and persons with disabilities.
Digital technologies have become essential to everyday life. But the digital environment has also enabled the proliferation of commercial practices that are harmful in multiple ways, including by causing tangible financial, mental, and physical harm, as well as threatening the democratic discourse. These practices are not isolated incidents but have become part of business models built on asymmetric information and behavioural manipulation, which includes addictive design, unfair personalisation, and influencer marketing.
During the last mandate, the EU adopted important legislation to better protect people online, for instance the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act. However, these laws are limited in scope and content and are therefore not enough to address all the unfair and harmful practices that companies use online across many sectors.
The Act offers an opportunity to show that ‘simplification’ should not become a synonym for deregulation. Updating EU consumer law can both increase legal certainty and ensure that digital markets respect people’s rights while supporting more sustainable economic models.
Read the joint call here.
