On November 11, 2026, the European Commission adopted its proposal for a Digital Fairness Act, a regulation that would replace the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. It would stretch the Digital Services Act's ban on profiled ads to minors and on sensitive data from platforms to every trader, including ad service providers, and make brands and agencies answerable for the influencers they pay. Nothing applies yet: Parliament and the Council still have to agree the text.
What the Commission proposed
The package has three parts: the Digital Fairness Act itself (a regulation that applies directly in every Member State), a Simplification Directive amending the Consumer Rights and ePrivacy Directives, and a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation. Together they would let the Commission investigate large EU-wide consumer law cases itself and fine companies up to 6% of worldwide annual turnover, according to PPC Land's reading of the proposal.
Timing matters for planning. Once adopted, the regulation would enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal and apply 12 months after that. The legislative process has not started, so the final text can still change.
Profiled ads: the DSA rule extended to everyone
Meta, as a DSA platform, already cannot show ads based on profiling to users it knows are minors, or based on special categories of data such as health, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Article 12 of the proposal applies the same ban to every other trader. The recitals name providers of advertising services and describe the whole chain: whoever selects targeting criteria, supplies the data or delivers the ad.
The recitals also extend the rule beyond banner ads to personalised recommendations, product rankings and promotional messages in natural-language systems, which appears to reach sponsored answers from AI assistants. The proposal says traders are not required to collect extra data just to work out whether someone is a minor.
Influencers, dark patterns and pricing
Brands and agencies that use influencer marketing would have to ensure, by contract or other means, that creators comply, and they would stay liable whatever the form of payment or degree of creative freedom. Disclosure would have to use the words 'advertisement' or 'commercial collaboration' and, on DSA platforms, the platform's own disclosure tool.
A new blacklist of ten interface practices would be unfair in all circumstances. Several map directly onto common landing-page and funnel tactics:
- False or persistent scarcity and popularity claims such as fake 'only 1 left' counters
- Pre-ticked add-ons or inferred consent to pay for extra products
- Hiding price, contract length or auto-renewal behind less prominent text
- Limited-time offers that do not state how long the offer runs, and drip pricing
- Cancellation flows that are much harder than sign-up
What to do now
This is a proposal, not law, and it would not bite for at least a year after final adoption. But the direction is clear, and EU consumer authorities already enforce similar principles under existing rules. Funnels, offers and creator deals aimed at EU users are worth reviewing now, while changes are cheap.
Expect Meta's own targeting options for under-18s in the EU to stay restricted, and expect more scrutiny of what happens after the click: the landing page, the checkout and the subscription terms.
What it means for you
- Audit EU landing pages for fake scarcity timers, pre-ticked add-ons and buried renewal terms
- Put influencer disclosure and compliance clauses into every creator contract that touches EU audiences
- Do not build EU audiences or lookalikes from data that reveals health, ethnicity or other sensitive traits
- Track the Parliament and Council negotiations; nothing applies until 12 months after adoption
