UFC-Que Choisir calls for more sanctions on interfaces pushing for purchase

In a study, the consumer defense association wanted to know if the European regulation on digital services, which explicitly prohibits these “dark patterns” and applies in France, was respected.

False sense of urgency, misleading crossed-out prices… Some online commerce sites use “dark patterns”, or manipulative interfaces to influence their clients, denounces the UFC-Que Choisir Thursday June 20. In a study, the consumer defense association wanted to know if the European regulation on digital services (DSA), which explicitly prohibits these “dark patterns” and has applied in France since February 2024, was respected. But none of the sites of Airbnb, AliExpress, Amazon, Booking.com, Carrefour, Cdiscount, Decathlon, E.Leclerc, eBay, eDreams, Expedia, Fnac, Leboncoin, Leroy Merlin, ManoMano, Rakuten France, Shein, Temu, Veepee, Vinted , i.e. the 20 marketplaces most visited by the French according to the Professional E-commerce Federation (Fevad), are exempt.

“The most common deceptive interfaces include manipulative visual designs, the requirement to create a customer account, misleading strike-through prices, repetitive incentives, or limited stock messages (urgency trap) whose relevance is entirely irrelevant. unverifiable”, observes UFC-Que Choisir. Temu “comes first with the greatest number of ‘dark patterns’ present on its site and in its application”explains UFC-Que Choisir, which is one of around twenty associations having filed a complaint against the Chinese online commerce platform, accused of violating several provisions of the DSA. “Temu is followed in our ranking by AliExpress, another Chinese platform, then the American platform Amazon and the French Veepee”further reports the association which wants consumers “can make unbiased choices”.

In its study, UFC-Que-Choisir calls for more sanctions in France and Europe. The association claims to alert the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control and the European Commission on “the excesses of professionals”, calling for “initiate additional investigations and sanction these unacceptable practices”. She specifies that she “will not fail to take legal action in the event of the persistence of such practices.”