Activities of Alessandra BASSO related to 2022/2014(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Consumer protection in online video games: a European Single Market approach (debate)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the video games industry employed 86 953 people in 2019, of whom around 20% were women; 3a; _________________ 3a ISFE, Europe’s Video Games Industry, ISFE-EGDF Key Facts, 2021.
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas online video games present, by their very nature, important levels of criticalities especially when the gaming experience is compared to most traditional physical channels;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas spending excessive amounts of time playing online video games, in the absence of appropriate safeguards, can create addictions and lead to ‘gaming disorder’, and can also lead to consumer-protection related issues as well as mechanisms that can be reminiscent of electronic forms of gambling, in particular with regard to minors;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas monetized video games may have very few consumer protection guarantees, which could pose financial risks for users and, in the case of minors, parents and those legally responsible for their actions;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas the control and verification tools set up for accessing online video games may lack efficiency, particularly when it comes to verifying with absolute certainty players’ age;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas, with regard to the psychosocial effects of certain reward mechanisms, children are more at risk to develop habits in response to certain stimuli;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the European video games industry represented a market size of EUR 23.3 billion in 2020 and is still growing8a; whereas, since 2015, digital revenues have increased threefold and account for more than half of European market revenues; _________________ 8a ISFE, Europe’s Video Games Industry, ISFE-EGDF Key Facts, 2021
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the industry has historically generated revenue from the sale of video games but has been rapidly shifting to purely digital services sold through online storefronts, leading the grounds for new and complex business models; whereas one of the currently predominant business models is represented by in-game purchases that unlock digital content in the video game environment;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
Kb. whereas the video games industry represents an important and rapidly growing segment of the creativity sector in Europe, which has historically lagged behind in the emergence of 'European champions' within the global digital sector;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the measures taken to better protect consumers; notes, however, the need for a single, coordinated approach between Member States in order to avoid fragmentation of the single market and to protect European consumers;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the development and implementation of parental-control tools that help to filter content and video games by age, monitor time spent playing games, disable or limit online spending and restrict communications with others or the viewing of content created by other players; notes, however, that parents may find it difficult to use such tools, which reduces their effectiveness; calls for mechanisms to be put in place to exercise stricter parental control over the amount of time and money children spend on games, among other thingsstresses that instructions for effective use of parental control should be made user-friendly, accessible and clear;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that some video games offer their users the possibility to pay, sometimes even with real money, in order to obtain rewards through loot boxesbuy in-game currencies and to obtain randomized rewards through loot boxes; stresses that the use of in-game currencies constitutes an additional transaction layer that abstracts the real-world cost of the virtual item;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Observes that generally the ownership of in-game currencies does not guarantee the right of refund nor the right of withdrawal for consumers, notably given the complicated licensing agreements through which video games companies often grant themselves the power to unilaterally change contractual clauses;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that consumers should have all the necessary information about an online video game before starting to play it, as well as during the game, in terms of the multiple options for possible purchases while playing and other information that may be considered to be of interest; observes in particular that clear information shall be provided to consumers in advertising materials on what to expect from in-game purchases and how they affect gameplay;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Points out that in cases where algorithmic decision-making is employed in video games, particularly when it aims at influencing user behaviour, consumers shall be explicitly informed;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that, when adopting regulatory action, the Commission shall prioritize banning misleading designs, increasing minors protection and ensuring transactional transparency for in-game purchasing systems;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Stresses that regulatory action shall provide a good balance between consumer protection and the development of strategic business models; underlines that although consumer protection is a shared competence, the video games sector requires cross-border protection because of its intrinsic nature;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Recalls that children are less able to disentangle costs when presented with virtual currencies and may have problems understanding and taking probabilities into account particularly when it comes to randomized rewards;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Stresses the importance of creating enforceable accessibility standards for consumers affected by disabilities, in particular when minors;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on the Commission to take advantage of the fitness check to be conducted on digital fairness, as part of the New Consumer Agenda2020, to assess key concepts relevant for the protection of consumer in online video games as vulnerability, deceptive design and monetisation techniques;