EU Digital Fairness Act (proposed)

What it requires

Nothing yet. The Digital Fairness Act is an announced initiative in the Commission's 2026 work programme and no proposal has been published. The European Parliament's Legislative Train file, in the version dated 20 June 2026, records the status as announced with an indicative date in the fourth quarter of 2026, and names the intended scope as dark patterns, influencer marketing, addictive design, unfair personalisation and a streamlining of information duties. It does not name an obligation to display real-money prices alongside virtual currencies. That expectation, widely attributed to the act, traces instead to the consultation material and to the key principles on in-game virtual currencies agreed through the EU's Consumer Protection Cooperation Network and published in June 2025, which treat the purchase and the use of premium in-game currencies as covered by EU consumer law and call for prices to be expressed in real currency.

Why it bears on this field

The published scope — dark patterns, addictive design and unfair personalisation — describes the retention and conversion mechanics of coin-funded vertical-drama apps: cliffhanger paywalls, timed offers, streaks and personalised episode recommendation. Whether the coin economy itself is reached is unsettled, because the price-display obligation most often ascribed to the act is not in the scope the Legislative Train records. Any effect is prospective: there is no text, no legal base in force, and no date beyond an indicative quarter, and trackers have differed over whether the proposal arrives in the third or the fourth quarter of 2026.

Open questions

• Will the proposal be tabled on 11 November 2026, the date MLex reported as tentative, or later in the fourth quarter?
• Will it carry an obligation to display real-money prices alongside virtual currencies, which consultation material pointed to but the recorded scope does not name?
• Will the planned influencer-transparency rules extend to platform monetisation tools generally — subscriptions, bonuses and affiliate programmes — as 15 digital-rights organisations asked on 8 July 2026?

Timeline

• 2025-06-03The Commission publishes the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network's key principles on in-game virtual currencies, which state that the purchase and the use of premium in-game currencies are covered by EU consumer law and that prices should be expressed in real currency.
• 2025-10-24The public consultation closes.
• 2026-06-20Version date of the European Parliament Legislative Train file recording the act as announced, with an indicative date in the fourth quarter of 2026 and a scope of dark patterns, influencer marketing, addictive design, unfair personalisation and information duties. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-07-08Fifteen digital-rights organisations, among them AlgorithmWatch, Bits of Freedom and Corporate Europe Observatory, publish an open letter asking that the planned influencer-transparency rules cover platform monetisation tools generally, including subscriptions, bonuses and affiliate programmes. The letter is advocacy and does not change the timetable. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-09-17The Commission's Communication on an EU approach to online child safety, COM(2026) 680 final, refers to the Digital Fairness Act as upcoming and as an opportunity to embed the protection of children. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-09-29MLex reports that the Commission has tentatively listed the Digital Fairness Act for its 11 November 2026 meeting and that the schedule can change.
• 2026-10-05A European Parliamentary Research Service briefing says the proposal is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, with current information pointing to mid-November. Source (opens in a new tab)
• 2026-10-21The European Economic and Social Committee adopts its exploratory opinion INT/1132 on the Digital Fairness Act at plenary session 609. Its key points call for clearer influencer disclosure obligations under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, an EU definition of digital influencer, fairness by design and a reassessment of the average and vulnerable consumer. Source (opens in a new tab)