21.02.2025 09:00
The Ministry of Trade has decided to impose a total fine of 30.2 million lira, along with a suspension penalty, on 183 cases deemed to be in violation of the regulations by the Advertising Board.
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The Advertising Board of the Ministry of Trade has imposed a fine of 30.2 million TL and sanctions regarding consumer comments and advertisements related to financial services.
The statement made by the Ministry of Trade is as follows:
The Advertising Board, which operates under the Ministry of Trade, has found 183 out of 205 files discussed in its meeting numbered 354 held on February 14, 2025, to be in violation of the legislation, and has issued a precautionary suspension decision for 1 file. A total administrative fine of 30.2 million TL has been imposed for the 183 files found to be in violation of the legislation, along with a suspension penalty, and it has been decided to apply an administrative measure of access restriction to prevent consumer grievances in 37 of the files found to be in violation.
In the meeting where advertisements and commercial practices affecting consumers' economic preferences and interests were discussed, topics such as consumer comments, website designs, and financial advertisements that would influence consumers' economic behavior were highlighted. In this context;
INVESTIGATION OF UNVERIFIED CONSUMER COMMENTS
Comment and rating applications reflecting consumers' experiences regarding the goods or services they have purchased have become one of the most important criteria affecting the preferences and purchasing decisions of other consumers, especially in online shopping where access to these areas is easy. In this regard, a verification obligation has been imposed on those engaged in commercial practices to ensure that the published comments and rating applications are made by consumers who have purchased that good or service, in order to prevent the manipulation of comment and rating applications on websites and the inclusion of fake, misleading, or unverifiable comments in the comment sections.
In an investigation brought to the agenda by the Advertising Board in this context; it has been determined that the comments and ratings provided by the company under the title "Facility Reviews" were published based on comments obtained through "Google" systems without fulfilling the obligation to verify that they were made by those who purchased the relevant good or service. In this case, since users who have not stayed at the facility or received any service from these facilities can also comment, and users claiming to have received services from the facility cannot prove that they received these services, it is not possible to meet the verification and proof obligation. Therefore, the comments published on platforms such as Google, blog pages, etc., which merely reflect users' experiences, have been evaluated as an unfair commercial practice, regardless of whether warnings regarding the issue are included on the websites selling goods and services, and it has been decided to impose an administrative fine in addition to the suspension penalty.
MONITORING OF "DARK PATTERNS" CONTINUES
Dark patterns are defined as applications that are mostly found in online user interfaces and lead consumers to make choices that significantly distort their economic behavior regarding goods or services in a way that prevents them from making rational decisions.
As is known, administrative sanctions are imposed on companies that mislead consumers by using dark patterns in accordance with the investigations initiated ex officio by the Advertising Board. In this month's meeting, it was decided to impose an administrative fine in addition to the suspension penalty on companies that were found to have misled consumers by using interface designs prepared in a way that negatively affects consumers' will regarding the use of the right to cancel subscription services.
PENALTIES IMPOSED ON CAMPAIGNS
The Advertising Board has decided to impose an administrative fine in addition to the suspension penalty regarding misleading advertisements that were found in the financial service campaigns offered to consumers by banks, where consumers were not informed about the exceptions to the main promise and the impression was created that it was being offered "exclusively" to non-customers despite being a general campaign.
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