EU Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ekaterina Bronsky, Yuriy Brisov, Alexandra Zviagintseva and Yasmin Komshilova, Digital & Analogue Partners
related concerns about deceptive advertising and disinformation. • In relation to X , the Commission imposed a EUR120 million fine (December 2025) for transpar - ency breaches: the deceptive design of the paid blue checkmark, an opaque advertising repository, and barriers to researcher data access. Sepa - rate, ongoing proceedings (opened in December 2023) concern X’s handling of illegal content and recommender-system risks linked to elections and radicalisation. • In the Shein proceedings (opened in February 2026), the Commission is examining systems for preventing the sale of illegal products, engagement features that may contribute to addictive design, and transparency around recommender systems. • In the Snapchat proceedings (opened March 2026), the Commission is assessing whether the plat - form’s age-assurance and risk-mitigation systems adequately address risks to minors, including grooming, criminal recruitment, and exposure to illegal or age-restricted products. • In the separate Meta child - safety proceedings (opened May 2024), the Commission preliminarily found, in April 2026, that Facebook and Instagram failed to identify, assess and mitigate the risk of children under 13 accessing services formally restricted to users aged 13 and above. Beyond the current regulatory framework, the forth - coming Digital Fairness Act, already mentioned in relation to personalised pricing, may set new stand - ards for tackling manipulative online practices more broadly. The Commission Work Programme for 2026 lists the Digital Fairness Act under the priority of “pro - tecting our democracy, upholding our values”, with a legislative proposal expected in the fourth quar - ter of 2026. It is framed as a measure to address a broad range of dark patterns that exploit cognitive biases and steer users toward choices they might not otherwise make, resulting in unintended purchases, unwanted subscriptions, or the sharing of personal data without fully informed consent. Examples drawn from the Commission’s own consultation materials include the following.
• Sneak into the basket – an extended warranty or add-on is pre-selected and added to the basket unless the user actively opts out. • Confirm-shaming – a user declining a newsletter is shown a guilt-inducing alternative, such as “No, I hate learning new things”. • Forced continuity – a free trial automatically converts into a paid subscription without a clear reminder or an easy cancellation route. • Decision fatigue – privacy settings require users to manually disable dozens of tracking options rather than offering a single “Reject all” button. For businesses, the significance of these develop - ments extends beyond gatekeepers and very large online platforms. The underlying trend is a broader shift in user expectations. Users are becoming more con - scious of how digital services influence their behaviour and increasingly expect transparency, autonomy and meaningful choice. These changing expectations are likely to affect digital businesses well beyond those formally in scope of the DSA or DMA. In the long run, user trust and autonomy may become as important to competitive advantage as engagement and retention. Practical implications for businesses For technology companies operating in the EU, these trends are not abstract regulatory developments. They are becoming practical questions of product design, customer journey, data use, market strategy, and the selection of clients and other counterparties. The following questions can help assess the extent to which a company may be exposed to the risks emerg - ing from these trends: • How dependent is your business on third-party infrastructure, AI models, datasets or digital plat - forms that may become subject to localisation, sovereignty or security requirements? • Which parts of your products, services or revenue streams rely on extensive collection and use of personal data, and how resilient would they be to further restrictions? • Can users clearly understand how your algorithms, AI systems and interfaces influence their choices and experience? If transparency standards change,
48 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook