{"id":2517,"date":"2025-10-31T04:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T12:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/?p=2517"},"modified":"2025-10-31T04:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T12:54:11","slug":"pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <b>Digital Fairness Act (DFA)<\/b> is a defining opportunity to modernise Europe\u2019s consumer protection framework for the digital age. Mozilla welcomes the European Commission\u2019s ambition to ensure that digital environments are fair, open, and respecting of user autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>As online environments are increasingly shaped by <b>manipulative design, pervasive personalization, and emerging AI systems<\/b>, traditional transparency and consent mechanisms are no longer sufficient. The DFA must therefore address how digital systems are designed and operated \u2013 from interface choices to system-level defaults and AI-mediated decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>Mozilla believes the\u00a0 DFA, if designed in a smart way, will complement existing legislation (such as GDPR, DSA, DMA, AI Act) by closing long-recognized legal and enforcement gaps. When properly scoped, the DFA can <b>simplify<\/b> the regulatory landscape, <b>reduce fragmentation,<\/b> and <b>enhance legal certainty<\/b> for innovators, while also enabling consumers to exercise their choices online and bolster overall consumer protection. Ensuring effective consumer choice is at the heart of contestable markets, encouraging innovation and new entry.<\/p>\n<p><b>Policy recommendations<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>1. Recognize and outlaw harmful design practices at the interface and system levels.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Update existing rules to ensure that manipulative and deceptive patterns at both interface and system architecture levels<strong> are explicitly banned<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Extend protection beyond \u201cdark patterns\u201d to <strong>include AI-driven and agentic systems<\/strong> that steer users toward outcomes they did not freely choose.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Introduce <strong>anti-circumvention and burden-shifting provisions<\/strong> requiring platforms to demonstrate the fairness of their design and user-interaction systems.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Harmonize key definitions and obligations<\/strong> across the different legislative instruments within consumer, competition, and data protection law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>2. Establish substantive fairness standards for personalization and online advertising.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Prohibit exploitative or manipulative personalization<\/b> based on sensitive data or vulnerabilities.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Guarantee <b>simple, meaningful opt-outs<\/b> that do not degrade service quality.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Require the use of <b>privacy-preserving technologies (PETs)<\/b> and data minimisation by design in all personalization systems.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Mandate <b>regular audits<\/b> to assess fairness and detect systemic bias or manipulation across the ad-tech chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>3. Strengthen centralized enforcement and cooperation across regulators.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Adopt the DFA as a Regulation and introduce <strong>centralized enforcement to ensure consistent application<\/strong> across Member States.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Create formal mechanisms for <strong>cross-regulator coordination<\/strong> among consumer, data protection, and competition authorities.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Update the \u201caverage consumer\u201d standard<\/strong> to reflect real behavioral dynamics online, ensuring protection for all users, not just the hypothetical rational actor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A strong, harmonized DFA would modernize Europe\u2019s consumer protection architecture, strengthen trust, and promote a fairer, more competitive digital economy. By closing long-recognized legal gaps, it would reinforce genuine user choice, simplify compliance, enhance legal certainty, and support responsible innovation.<\/p>\n<p>You can read our position in more detail <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/files\/2025\/10\/Digital-Fairness-Act_Consultation-submission.pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Digital Fairness Act (DFA) is a defining opportunity to modernise Europe\u2019s consumer protection framework for the digital age. Mozilla welcomes the European Commission\u2019s ambition to ensure that digital environments &hellip; <a class=\"go\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1924,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[452999],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act - Open Policy &amp; Advocacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tasos Stampelos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/\",\"name\":\"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act - Open Policy &amp; Advocacy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-31T12:54:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-31T12:54:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/caba12532672da33022261024cc9cf63\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/\",\"name\":\"Open Policy &amp; Advocacy\",\"description\":\"Mozilla&#039;s official blog on open Internet policy initiatives and developments\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/caba12532672da33022261024cc9cf63\",\"name\":\"Tasos Stampelos\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5e3cb964f7eb226bbb5e3b0f02410ed3\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36878ab9519e3d11e2cdd28bc854c8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36878ab9519e3d11e2cdd28bc854c8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tasos Stampelos\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act - Open Policy &amp; Advocacy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tasos Stampelos","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/","name":"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act - Open Policy &amp; Advocacy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-31T12:54:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-31T12:54:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/caba12532672da33022261024cc9cf63"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/2025\/10\/31\/pathways-to-a-fairer-digital-world-mozilla-shares-views-on-the-eu-digital-fairness-act\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pathways to a fairer digital world: Mozilla shares views on the EU Digital Fairness Act"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/","name":"Open Policy &amp; Advocacy","description":"Mozilla&#039;s official blog on open Internet policy initiatives and developments","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/caba12532672da33022261024cc9cf63","name":"Tasos Stampelos","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/5e3cb964f7eb226bbb5e3b0f02410ed3","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36878ab9519e3d11e2cdd28bc854c8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36878ab9519e3d11e2cdd28bc854c8ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tasos Stampelos"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2517"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/netpolicy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}