Dublin: The Digital Fairness Act is due this autumn, according to the Commission’s list of 2026 State of the Union initiatives, which promises “a digital fairness act to be proposed this autumn, to address addictive design.” The Commission has not tabled the text yet, but the timetable puts the proposal within weeks.

The European Parliament’s Legislative Train Schedule places the proposal in the fourth quarter of 2026. It says the Digital Fairness Act will tackle dark patterns, influencer marketing, addictive design and unfair personalisation, and it will also tackle difficulties with the cancellation and renewal of digital subscriptions. Commissioner Michael McGrath leads the file.

The evidence base goes back to October 2024. The Commission’s fitness check found that 97% of popular websites and apps used at least one deceptive pattern, and it estimated consumer detriment of about €7.9 billion a year in digital markets, as law firm Arthur Cox summarised. The check concluded that consumer law written for offline shops struggles in digital settings.

Parliament pushed the topic in its December 2023 resolution on addictive design, and the Council has urged policies that address the influence of online creators on their audiences, including minors. Consumer organisations support tighter rules. Platforms such as TikTok argue that new regulation is unnecessary.

The public consultation ran from 17 July to 24 October 2025. The Commission’s factual summary counted 3,341 responses and kept 1,733 after cleaning out duplicates and privacy breaches. In that data set, 72% backed binding rules on dark patterns, 70% on addictive design, 70% on personalisation and 68% on influencer marketing.

Minors stand out in the figures. In the same summary, 78% of respondents favoured switching off addictive features by default for minors, and 83% wanted a ban on personalised advertising that targets children. Large companies gave far less backing, with only 14% to 22% supporting the dark pattern measures, which signals a hard fight over the final text of the Digital Fairness Act.

The proposal will also have to fit with existing law. The Digital Services Act already imposes duties on large platforms, and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive covers misleading practices in general terms, so drafters must show where a new act adds protection rather than duplicate rules. Businesses want simpler information duties in return for tougher limits on manipulative design.

The Digital Fairness Act will show whether Brussels can write rules that curb addictive design without burying small firms in paperwork. Consumers, platforms and national regulators will read the text for one thing first: how it defines manipulation, and who has to prove it.