Digital Fairness Act

The Digital Fairness Act is a proposed European Union regulation aimed at extending consumer protection into digital commerce, specifically targeting dark patterns, hidden fees, subscription traps, and opaque algorithmic pricing that exploit consumers online. As of April 2026, the Act was still in legislative development, with the European Commission having published a targeted study and stakeholder consultation in 2024 as part of the REFIT review of existing EU consumer law. It had not yet been formally proposed as a directive or regulation.

The Act was cited by Football Supporters Europe and Euroconsumers in their March 2026 Article 102 TFEU competition complaint against FIFA as additional regulatory context , specifically, FIFA's undisclosed Dynamic pricing, hidden seat-location information, and the introduction of stealth premium ticket tiers were characterised as exactly the kind of manipulative digital practices the Act is designed to prohibit.

If enacted, the Digital Fairness Act would create mandatory disclosure obligations for algorithmic pricing and prohibit personalised pricing without explicit consumer consent. For large-scale event ticketing operations like FIFA's, this would require material changes to how Dynamic pricing is communicated and applied across EU markets. The FIFA case has given the Act's proponents concrete real-world evidence of the consumer harm it is designed to prevent.