Consumers - vzbv: Internet companies continue to cheat despite ban
One hundred days after the European Digital Services Act (DSA) came into force, large internet companies from the USA and China are still not fulfilling their new legal obligations. This is the result of a study by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), which was published in Berlin on Monday. Amazon, Booking.com, Google Shopping and YouTube are still using illegal design tricks ("dark patterns") to steer consumers in a certain direction.
Since August 2023, providers of very large online platforms have been prohibited from exploiting human behavioral or perceptual patterns through design tricks - for example through the color scheme of buttons or long click paths. "People feel manipulated, confused or tricked by design tricks on online platforms," said Ramona Pop, Chairwoman of the vzbv. "It is truly astonishing how persistently companies disregard the applicable laws or only implement them half-heartedly."
The consumer advocates also discovered serious shortcomings in the transparency of advertising criteria. Large online platforms are obliged to provide comprehensible and easily accessible information about the criteria according to which advertisements are displayed, explained the vzbv. It should be possible to access this information directly by clicking on the advertisement. "None of the providers examined have fulfilled this obligation so far." The association had investigated Instagram from the Meta Group, Snapchat, TikTok and X/Twitter. At least all of them, with the exception of Snapchat, had labeled the ad content as advertising and identified the respective advertiser by name.
Contact option "rather difficult to access"
The consumer advocates are also not satisfied with the way in which the major internet players present the "small print". According to the DSA, providers must, for example, present their contact information in a way that is easy to find and make their general terms and conditions transparent. Apple's App Store, Facebook and TikTok now offer a contact option. However, in the view of the consumer advocates, this is "rather difficult to access".
The association also criticized that some of the terms and conditions are difficult to find and do not always contain all mandatory information, for example on internal complaints systems. The T&Cs of the websites of Booking.com and Google Search as well as the apps of TikTok and X/Twitter were examined - some with a length of over 50 A4 pages.
Read also:
- Despite the implementation of the DSA, large internet companies like Google, Amazon, and Booking.com are still not adhering to their new legal obligations in the EU.
- The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) discovered that providers of large online platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, are still using 'dark patterns' to influence consumer behavior.
- Google Shopping and other internet companies are using deceptive design tricks to steer consumers, which is against the rules set by the DSA.
- Pop, the Chairman of the vzbv, criticized the persistent disregard of applicable laws by large internet companies.
- Transparency in advertising criteria is another area where large online platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are falling short, according to the vzbv.
- Providers like Booking.com and Google Search are not complying with their obligation to provide clear and easily accessible information about advertising criteria.
- The contact option for these companies is also difficult to access, according to the consumer advocates.
- Apple's App Store, Facebook, and TikTok offer a contact option, but the consumer advocates find it hard to access.
- Some online platforms, including TikTok and X/Twitter, have labeled advertisements and identified advertisers, but not all have followed this requirement.
- Google, Amazon, and other large internet companies from the USA and China continue to cheat consumers, even after the DSA came into force in Europe.
Source: www.stern.de
