§4.2.5 Social media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok enable users to create profiles and communicate with each other, including sharing information and content. Social media platforms increasingly feature commercial practices that may be problematic under the UCPD and EU consumer law more broadly, such as: — hidden advertising by the social media platform or by third party traders, including misleading influencer marketing; — unfair standard contract terms; — social media services being presented to consumers as ‘free’ when they rely on an advertising model processing large amounts of personal data in exchange for access; — problematic algorithmic practices, such as manipulative targeted advertising or practices to capture the consumer’s attention to continue using the service (see also section 4.2.7); — unfair practices related to in-platform purchases, such as virtual items; — commercial practices put in place by third party traders through social media platforms, including scams and fraud, fake or misleading user reviews or endorsements, direct exhortations to children, spam and subscription traps. Some social media platforms have become environments for advertising, product placement and consumer reviews. Therefore, they can present increased risks for hidden advertising, given that commercial elements are mixed with social and cultural user-generated content. Furthermore, consumers may not always be aware that traders use social media for marketing purposes. Social media platforms feature different types of advertising, such as native advertising, which involves blending commercial content with non-commercial content and is often displayed with the same format and in the same position as user-generated content (e.g. in a user’s personal feed). It is also more prominent in mobile environments because the content may take up the full display of a smaller screen. The content is often developed by advertisers using the publishing options available within the advertising platform. Another common type of advertising involves the use of influencers, which is further explained in the next section. All forms of commercial communications on social media platforms must be clearly disclosed. The prohibitions against hidden advertising in Article 7(2) and point No 22 of Annex I UCPD could be invoked both against social media platforms and third party traders using social media platforms. A similar disclosure requirement stems from Article 6(a) of the e-Commerce Directive and Articles 9, 10 and 28b of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The obligations of social media platforms may become further reinforced in relation to online advertising in the proposed Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Furthermore, many users of social media are children and young people. Consequently, Article 5(3) of the UCPD can be relevant as a legal basis for protecting vulnerable consumers and the disclosures of commercial communications must be understandable for the likely target audience, taking into account the specific circumstances of each case and the environment of the specific social media platform. In addition, point No 28 of Annex I prohibits direct exhortations to children in commercial communications. Targeted advertising practices that focus on children as the target group therefore cannot contain any direct exhortations to buy the advertised products under the UCPD. Furthermore, there are specific rules under GDPR regarding the validity of children’s consent and the provision of information when information society services are offered directly to children. Targeted advertising may also fall under the rules on automated decision-making in Article 22 GDPR (354). In 2016-2019, the Commission and national authorities obtained commitments from Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to bring their practices in accordance with EU consumer law. They addressed practices such as the lack of transparency concerning their business model for consumers, and various terms in their terms and conditions (355), which included limiting or totally excluding the liability of the platform in connection with the performance of the service and the identification of commercial communications, waiving mandatory EU consumer rights, and depriving consumers of their EU rights in relation to jurisdiction and applicable law.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07