Legal Protection of Online Consumers Against Misleading Online Advertising

Abstract

Electronic advertising is currently one of the most important pillars underpinning electronic commerce, given the central role it plays in introducing and promoting goods and services across various digital media such as websites, social media platforms, mobile applications, and email. This type of advertising has become an effective marketing tool relied upon by economic operators to reach the widest possible segment of consumers, owing to its rapid dissemination, lower cost compared with traditional advertising, and its ability to target specific audience groups according to their interests and consumer behavior. However, these advantages may sometimes be exploited unlawfully, where some economic operators resort to misleading electronic advertising by providing incorrect or exaggerated information about product or service characteristics, prices, quality, or origin, or by concealing material data that could influence the consumer’s will and induce them to contract based on a mistaken perception of reality. This undermines the recipient’s consent to the advertisement, which is one of the essential pillars of the validity of legal acts, restricts their freedom of choice, and breaches the principles of transparency and integrity that must govern electronic commercial transactions.

Recognizing the risks that misleading electronic advertising may pose to consumers and to trust in the digital environment, the Algerian legislator has established a set of legal mechanisms aimed at protecting advertisement recipients and guaranteeing their rights. This protection is embodied in enabling the consumer to resort to the judiciary to claim redress for the harm suffered, by filing a civil action to obtain compensation for material or moral damages resulting from misleading advertising, whenever the elements of civil liability are met. The legislator also provided for the possibility of initiating criminal proceedings against the perpetrator when misleading advertising constitutes a punishable offense, thereby achieving general and specific deterrence and contributing to strengthening confidence in electronic transactions and protecting the consumer from various forms of fraud and deception in the digital environment.