A. World Consumer Rights Day
Celebrated for the first time on March 15, 1983 by Consumers International, a federation of consumer groups, World Consumer Rights Day gained a global dimension after the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Consumer Rights in 1985. In this context, March 15 is celebrated as "Consumer Rights Day" every year to protect consumer rights and raise awareness all over the world.
B. Historical Process of Consumer Rights
Although Consumer Law legislation has changed in parallel with many economic and social developments such as the change in consumption habits and the development of consumption channels with the developing technology, it is possible to mention that these rights granted to consumers were first officially emphasized by the US President J.F. Kennedy in 1962.
C. 4 Fundamental Rights in the Kennedy Declaration and the UN Guidelines for Consumer Rights
In the mid-twentieth century, when consumers had very limited rights against abusive practices, the then presidential candidate of the United States of America, John F. Kennedy, supported the consumer movement during his election campaign. In this context, President John F. Kennedy officially emphasized consumer rights for the first time in his statement to the United States Congress on March 15, 1962.
In this declaration, which would later form the basis for the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Rights, it was mentioned that consumers had four original rights. These rights can be listed as follows:
- The Right to Safety
- The Right to Be Informed
- The Right to Choose
- The Right to Be Heard
The UN later expanded the rights in the declaration to eight articles, including the right to satisfactionof basic needs, the right to redress, the right to consumer education, the right to a healthy environment, and the UN Guidelines for Consumer Rights.
D. Development of Consumer Rights in Turkey
The first regulations on consumer rights were introduced in Turkey in 1995. As a matter of fact, Law No. 4077 on the Protection of Consumers was first adopted in 1995. Following the amendments made over the years within the scope of harmonization processes with the EU, Law No. 4077 was brought up to date with Law No. 6502 on the Protection of Consumers in 2013.
E. Board of Advertisement and 2024 Report
The abolished Law No. 4077 has certainly brought the mechanism of the "Advertisement Board", which has become very important in ensuring that advertising and commercial activities in the competition market are carried out without harming consumer rights and in line with this interest. In this part of our article, we refer to the report on 2024 published by the Board of Advertising in the first quarter of the year.
Highlights in 2024
1-Greenwashing and Unsubstantiated Environmental Claims
In 2016, the process that started with the Paris Agreement, the first global step taken against climate change, one of the biggest global problems of the 21st century, continued with the announcement of the The European Green Deal by the European Union, which includes the goal of "becoming the first climate-neutral continent in 2050". In our country, harmonization processes with the European Green Deal were initiated in line with environmental targets. This transition process has gained importance in raising consumer awareness about commercial advertisements and practices that target consumers' environmental sensitivities.
In the EU, 150 environmental statements were examined under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. In this context, deceptive environmental statements, which were expressed with different concepts such as "green laundering, green painting, green whitewashing or green washing" in our country in 2024, took an important place among the decisions. Article 17 of Law No. 6502 formed the basis of these examinations.
2-Dark Commercial Patterns, Manipulative Consequences
Commercial practices that attract attention with the rise of digital markets and manipulate consumers to make choices against their interests are called "Dark (Commercial) Patterns" in the world. In 2022, this issue was also subject to the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices in Turkey and these practices were recognized as "unfair commercial practices". In 2024, the practices reflected in the decisions of 2024 as dark commercial designs were frequently reflected in the decisions in the form of "interface intervention", "highlighting options in favor of the advertiser", "pre-selection".
3-Unapproved Memberships, Transferred Personal Data
In the research report prepared within the scope of the Digital Consumer Protection Project, it was concluded that seven out of every ten consumers who shop online tend to accept "becoming a member" and "electronic message confirmation" offered as a condition of continuation.
The results of the report were taken into consideration by the Board of Advertising and websites that offer membership conditions to consumers at the purchase stage were examined. During the examinations, it was determined that consumers were indirectly forced to share their personal data in order to make a purchase, and administrative fines/ suspension and correction penalties were imposed on 12 files.
4-Unreal Reviews, Fake Stars and Points
The research report prepared within the scope of the Digital Consumer Protection Project also found that reviews and prioritization scores are an important factor in consumers' will to purchase. In this context, the Board of Advertising has included reviews under basic headings such as the rule of allowing consumer reviews only by those who purchase the goods and services, and comments containing health statements.
5-Shadow Prices, Deceptive Discounts
In 2024, another topic on the agenda of the Board was shadow prices and deceptive discounts. In the meetings held during the year, the Advertising Board decided that discount campaigns cannot be carried out in a way to create the perception of uncertain and continuous discounts. The last meeting of 2024 was marked by the November discounts. Under this heading, the issues of conscious manipulation of consumers' shopping preferences by creating the perception of discounts were discussed.
6-Prohibited Ads
Advertisements made in violation of the provision in areas such as fortune tellers, psychics, astrologers, illegal betting and gambling, which are the categories prohibited from advertising in the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, stood out in the decisions of 2024. In this context, sanctions were imposed on a total of 246 real and legal persons who made commercial communications with titles such as fortune tellers, psychics and astrologers. The relevant Board of Advertising report for 2024 is available here.1
Finally, we would like to emphasize that, despite the ongoing developments, the regulations and amendments made to date, particularly within the framework of EU harmonization efforts, cannot be considered sufficient to safeguard consumer rights. We believe that World Consumer Rights Day serves as a crucial opportunity for consumers to voice their concerns against anti-consumer practices in the market, and to further promote and uphold consumer rights globally.
Footnote
1. https://ticaret.gov.tr/data/67a4be8e13b87622acec68ee/REKLAM%20KURULU%202024_YILI_RAPORU.pdf
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