Advertising Board Imposes Suspension Penalties on Subscription Processes of Digital Platforms

At the 349th meeting of the Advertisement Board ("Advertising Board") under the Turkish Ministry of Trade, held on September 10, 2024, advertisements and practices affecting consumers' interests and economic preferences were evaluated. The meeting focused on advertisements that deceive consumers, mislead them, exploit their lack of experience and knowledge, and unfair commercial practices.

The Advertising Board conducted an investigation into these commercial practices and identified various violations of regulations regarding the subscription processes recently conducted by digital platforms, imposing suspension penalties on these platforms to cease these commercial practices.

The investigation focused on digital platforms such as Disney+, Blu TV, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, Storytel, Fintables, Fizy, MUBI, Tod TV, and Game Plus, which offer services via their websites and mobile applications.

The investigation revealed that in the subscription processes of these platforms, the option for an "annual subscription" was often pre-selected, highlighting packages with higher sales prices as “most preferred” or “most popular.”

Consumers were also required to create an account and provide credit or debit card information in order to benefit from free trial offers. It was further noted that at the end of the trial period, consumers were automatically directed to subscription plans, and some additional services were pre-selected by default on the subscription options screen. The processes for account cancellation and data deletion were found to be more complicated than the account creation process. Additionally, consumers were not provided with a clear and straightforward option to decline offers.

As a result of the investigations conducted by the Advertising Board, it was concluded that the aforementioned subscription practices are guiding consumers and affecting their choices, violating the principles of fair competition, significantly disrupting the economic behavior related to a good or service, and leading consumers to engage in transactions they would not normally participate in. Based on these findings, the Advertising Board ruled that these commercial practices must be suspended.

You can access the full press release detailing all decisions made at the Advertising Board’s 349th meeting held on September 10, 2024, here.

Please note that the press releases are only available in Turkish.