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Legal Updates
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Australia's trading ban, France vs. Shein, India's e-commerce compliance, EU's DSA review, and TikTok's addiction petition

Published on
December 1, 2025

Fair Monday is FairPatterns' weekly analysis of regulatory developments, enforcement actions, and dark pattern cases affecting digital trust and consumer protection. Every Monday, we break down complex legal actions to help businesses understand how to build ethical digital experiences. 

We deliver the latest developments in regulatory enforcement, class action lawsuits, and industry accountability, tracking how major platforms are being held responsible for deceptive practices that manipulate user behavior, exploit consumer trust, and undermine digital rights. Whether you're a legal professional, UX designer, compliance officer, or simply a consumer who wants to understand how digital deception works, Fair Monday provides the insights, case analysis, and precedent-setting developments you need to navigate the evolving landscape of digital fairness.

Australia advances historic ban on unfair trading practices

On November 24, 2025, Australian Consumer Affairs Ministers approved sweeping reforms to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), marking the most significant consumer protection upgrade in over a decade. The new legislation will ban unfair trading practices and create enforceable consumer guarantees, giving regulators unprecedented authority to combat manipulative digital design.

Research from consumer advocacy groups reveals alarming statistics: 

  • 75% of Australians have struggled to cancel subscriptions, with one in ten giving up and continuing unwanted payments. 
  • Dark patterns (deceptive interface design that steers users toward unintended choices) negatively affect 83% of consumers. 
  • These manipulative practices cost Australians an estimated $46 million annually.

The reforms specifically target subscription traps, complex cancellation processes, and exploitative business models that have flourished under existing legal gaps. Consumer groups CPRC, CALC, and CHOICE championed the changes, emphasizing protection for vulnerable consumers and alignment with global compliance standards.

Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) CEO Erin Turner stated that:

“This is a historic moment for Australians. These reforms mean people can expect fair treatment. It will save people time, stress and money, and restore confidence that the system is working as it should.” 

Global implications for digital businesses

Australia's decisive action reflects the international trend toward stricter enforcement of digital fairness standards. 

French commerce sector launches collective legal action against Shein

On November 19, 2025, a coalition of 12 French trade federations and approximately 100 brands filed a collective lawsuit against e-commerce platform Shein in the Tribunal de Commerce d'Aix-en-Provence, alleging systematic unfair competition and deceptive business practices.

The plaintiffs cite extensive evidence of consumer harm: French authorities (DGCCRF) found 87% of Shein's advertised price reductions to be misleading, while recent government inspections revealed 80% product non-compliance rates. The platform has already accumulated €190 million in fines from French and European regulators for deceptive commercial practices, product safety failures, and GDPR violations.

The professional federations engaged in the legal action stated in the press release that:

"This unprecedented collective action marks a turning point. We refuse to accept an economic model based on circumventing our common rules that weakens our businesses, our employment, and consumer confidence. French commerce is open to competition, but to fair competition that respects norms and people. By defending equity, we are also defending the vitality of our territories and the sustainability of commerce that creates employment, value, and social bonds." 

Key figures of the legal action:

  • 12 professional federations of commerce and industry
  • More than 100 brands engaged in the collective action
  • 87% of price reduction announcements on the SHEIN site are misleading (source: DGCCRF, 2025)
  • 8 out of 10 items are non-compliant (source: Ministry of Commerce following the control operation conducted in early November)
  • 775 million small items sent to France from extra-European platforms in 2024

Shein dismissed the allegations as "unfounded," characterizing the action as an anti-competitive boycott attempt rather than legitimate legal claims. The company asserts full compliance with French and EU competition law.

The procedural hearing scheduled for January 12, 2026 will establish the litigation framework for what may become a landmark case in platform accountability and cross-border digital commerce regulation.

26 major e-commerce platforms confirm dark pattern compliance in India

On November 20, 2025, India's Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) announced that 26 leading e-commerce platforms submitted mandatory self-declarations confirming elimination of dark patterns, following the country's landmark Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.

Platforms including Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Zomato, BigBasket, Zepto, Meesho, MakeMyTrip, and JioMart completed internal or third-party audits (several by Deloitte) to identify and remove 13 prohibited manipulative design practices. These include false urgency, basket sneaking, subscription traps, drip pricing, confirm shaming, and interface interference—tactics designed to mislead or coerce consumer decisions.

Regulatory enforcement escalates

The CCPA issued an advisory, requiring all e-commerce platforms to conduct comprehensive self-audits within three months. Declarations are publicly accessible on the CCPA website for transparency. Notably, Amazon India has not yet submitted compliance documentation, citing internal approval delays. Regulators warn that non-compliance triggers penalties from ₹10 lakh for initial violations to ₹50 lakh or more for repeat offenses.

EU evaluates Digital Services Act: Complexity demands simplification

On November 17, 2025, the European Commission published its evaluation of the Digital Services Act (DSA), revealing significant overlaps with other EU legislation that create unnecessary compliance burdens for digital platforms while maintaining the DSA as the cornerstone of digital governance.

Article 33 of DSA threshold confirmed adequate

The evaluation specifically assessed Article 33, which designates platforms exceeding 45 million average monthly active users in the EU as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) or Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs), subjecting them to enhanced due diligence obligations. The Commission confirmed this threshold remains well-calibrated to capture services causing systemic societal risks. Since April 2023, 25 platforms have been designated, including rapid additions like Temu and Shein, demonstrating the framework's adaptability to fast-evolving digital markets.

The evaluation analyzed 54 EU legal acts and identified duplicative obligations particularly around dark patterns (prohibited under the DSA, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, GDPR, AI Act, and Digital Markets Act) each with different scope and enforcement mechanisms. Similar redundancies exist for transparency reporting requirements, content moderation procedures, and recommender system disclosures across the Platform-to-Business Regulation, Audiovisual Media Services Directive, and Copyright Directive.

Path forward without reopening DSA

The Commission emphasized the DSA will remain unchanged but committed to using these findings in its upcoming Digital Fitness Check, the 2026 Digital Fairness Act, and reviews of the AVMSD and Copyright Directive. The goal is streamlining future legislation through better coordination, clearer guidance, and elimination of redundant procedural obligations while preserving substantive consumer protections and platform accountability standards.

170,000+ sign petition demanding TikTok end "addictive by design" model for children

Amnesty International announced that over 170,000 people globally have signed a petition calling on TikTok to fundamentally redesign its platform to protect children and young users from harmful algorithmic manipulation and addictive design patterns.

New Amnesty research using French teen test accounts found TikTok's "For You" feed exposed 13-year-olds to harmful content within three to four hours, with feeds becoming almost exclusively mental-health focused within 15-20 minutes of engagement. Automated testing demonstrated TikTok's recommender system more than doubled the share of sad or depressive content when watch histories included such videos. Researchers discovered content promoting harmful challenges.

While TikTok banned personalized advertising for minors in Europe, behavioral targeting continues elsewhere. Advocacy groups argue this constitutes clear DSA violations and call for urgent inclusion in the European Commission's ongoing investigation, demanding binding measures to force platform safety improvements.

Activists delivered the petition to TikTok's Dublin office demanding: extend the ban on behavioral ads for minors worldwide, eliminate default hyper-personalization, require opt-in consent, and prevent algorithmic "rabbit holes" that trap vulnerable users in harmful content cycles.

Regulatory enforcement is accelerating globally. Proactive compliance with emerging digital fairness standards protects brand reputation and reduces legal exposure.

Contact FairPatterns to audit your digital experience and eliminate regulatory risk before enforcement actions impact your business.

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