Unfair Commercial Practices in Digital Age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46282/bpf.2025.19Keywords:
unfair commercial practices, artificial intelligence, deepfake, consumer, digital technologies, legal liabilityAbstract
The spread of digital technologies creates several risk vectors for traders. In this article, the author addresses the issue of unfair commercial practices occurring in the digital space. One such practice is deepfake, which has a high potential to mislead consumers because it presents individuals as saying or doing things they never said or did, which can adversely affect consumers' economic decisions. Deepfakes can create highly convincing manipulated audio-visual content that may falsely portray products, services, or even the identity of the trader. Such fabricated material can spread quickly across online platforms, increasing the likelihood that consumers will rely on misleading or entirely false claims when making purchasing decisions.The situation is particularly alarming for traders that use digital marketing tools, as legal liability is a major issue, especially for consumer-oriented content. Using standard methods in social sciences, the author identify a correlation between artificial intelligence technologies and unfair practices in order to assess the adequacy of legal regulation.
References
1. ASA: Disclosure of AI in Advertising: Striking the Balance Between Creativity and Responsibility. [online]. 2023. [viewed 27 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.asa.org.uk/news/disclosure-of-ai-in-advertising-striking-the-balance-between-creativity-and-responsibility.html
2. BURKELL, Jacqeulyn – GOSSE, Chandell : Nothing new here: Emphasizing the social and cultural context of deepfakes, In: First Monday 24(12), [online] 2019, [viewed 25 September 2025]. Available at: https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10287 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i12.10287
3. CONGRESS.GOV: H.R. 5586 – Deepfakes Accountability Act. [online]. [viewed 28 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5586/text
4. CONGRESS.GOV: S. 146 – Take it down Act. [online]. [viewed 28 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/146
5. DUIVENVOORDE, Bram: Generative AI and the future of marketing: A consumer protection perspective In: Computer Law & Security Review, vol. 57, [online]. 2025. [viewed 25 September 2025]. Available at:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212473X25000148) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2025.106141
6. EPERIESI-BECK, E.: Digitale Souveränität bei IT-Sicherheitslösungen endlich ernst nehmen. [online]. 2023. [viewed 12 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.security-insider.de/greenwashing-ai-washing-souveraenitaets-washing-digitale-souveraenitaet-datenschutz-a-9041e42caacf8977a7648ef0174edb77
7. EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Behavioural Study on Unfair Commercial Practices in the Digital Environment: Dark Patterns and Manipulative Personalisation. Final Report. [online]. 2022. [viewed 23 September 2025]. Available at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/606365bc-d58b-11ec-a95f-01aa75ed71a1
8. EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Commission Staff Working Document – Fitness Check. [online]. 2024. [viewed 23 September 2025]. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/707d7404-78e5-4aef-acfa
9. EU: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council – Artificial Intelligence Act. Article 50, paragraph 4. [online]. [viewed 27 September 2025]. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024R1689
10. EU Artificial Intelligence Act: Historic Documents. [online]. [viewed 02 February 2024]. Available at: https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/documents/
11. GRIFFITHS, John: Deepfake Influencers: The Future of Fashion Advertising? [online]. 2022. [viewed 20 September 2025]. Available at: https://foundationagency.co.uk/blog/deepfake-influencers-the-future-of-fashion-advertising/
12. HUIJSTEE, Mariëtte van – BOHEEMEN, Pier van – DAS, Djurre – NIERLING, Linda – JAHNEL, Jutta Jahnel – KARABOGA, Murat – FATUN, Martin – KOOL, Linda – GERRITSEN, Joost: Tackling Deepfakes in European Policy. [online]. 2021. [viewed 25 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/690039/EPRS_STU(2021)690039_EN.pdf
13. KPMG International: Deepfake Threats to Companies. [online]. [viewed 25 September 2025]. Available at: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/risk-and-regulation/deepfake-threats.html
14. MATZ, Sandra – KOSINSKI, Michal – NAVE,Gideon – STILLWELL, David: Psychological targeting as an effective approach to digital mass persuasion, In: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114 (48) 12714-12719, [online] 2017, [viewed 27 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1710966114 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710966114
15. OECD: Dark Commercial Patterns. OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 336. [online]. 2022. [viewed 24 September 2025]. p. 20. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2022/10/dark-commercial-patterns_9f6169cd/44f5e846-en.pdf
16. SEC: Charges Two Investment Advisers with Making False and Misleading Statements About Their Use of Artificial Intelligence. [online]. 2024. [viewed 28 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-36
17. SMUHA, Nathalie A. – RENGERS, Emma – HARKENS, Adam – LI, Wenlong – MACLAREN, James – PISELLI, Riccardo – YEUNG, Karen: How the EU Can Achieve Legally Trustworthy AI: A Response to the European Commission’s Proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act. [online]. 2021. [viewed 25 September 2025]. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3899991 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3899991
18. STRÉMY, Jana – ZLOCHA, Ľubomír: Unfair Competition or the Fine Line Between Green Marketing and Greenwashing. In: Adamová, Z. Nové technológie, internet a duševné vlastníctvo. Trnava: Trnavská univerzita v Trnave, 2024, p. 87–99. ISBN 978-80-568-0709-5. [online].
19. STRYCHARZ, Joanna – DUIVENVOORDE, Bram:The exploitation of vulnerability through personalised marketing communication: are consumers protected? In: Internet Policy Review vol. 10 (4). [online]. 2021. [viewed 25 September 2025] Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3899991 https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/exploitation-vulnerability-through-personalised-marketing-communication-are DOI: https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.4.1585
20. TA3: Deepfake Can Cost You Thousands of Euros. SLSP Warns Against Fraudsters Who Misuse the Name of the Bank and the Media. [online]. [viewed 24 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.ta3.com/clanok/1005557/deepfake-vas-moze-pripravit-o-tisice-slsp-varuje-pred-podvodnikmi-ktori-zneuzivaju-meno-banky-aj-medii
21. TAMBIAMA, Madiega: Generative AI and Watermarking. [online]. 2023. [viewed 10 September 2025]. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2023/757583/EPRS_BRI(2023)757583_EN.pdf
22. TERRYN, Evelyne - MARQUEZ, Sylvia Martos: AI and Consumer Protection: An Introduction. In: Smuha NA, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of the Law, Ethics and Policy of Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge Law Handbooks. Cambridge University Press; [online]. 202. [viewed 25 September 2025], p. 192-210 Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-the-law-ethics-and-policy-of-artificial-intelligence/ai-and-consumerprotection/F5F0BBC5ABC0318DD902417C07482F6B#chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367783.013
23. UNCTAD: Artificial Intelligence and Consumer Protection (Technical note produced within the framework of UNCTAD informal Working Group on Consumer Protection in e-commerce). [online]. 2024. [viewed 27 September 2025]. Available at: https://unctad.org/
24. WOOLLACOTT, Emma: What is 'AI washing' and Why is it a Problem? [online]. 2024. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9xx8122893o
25. ZUMSTEIN, Darius – OEHNINGER, Fabian: Online Retailer Survey 2024 – Applications, Benefits, and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence in E-Commerce. [online]. 2024. [viewed 23 September 2025]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-2504
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 jana Strémy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.