Abstract
As more and more people shop online, the e-commerce industry has become more scalable. People are forced to shop online because they were afraid to go to physical stores during the pandemic, and are used to it after the pandemic is over. This research will focus on the details of e-commerce around the world as well as the issues of protecting consumer rights online, with a specific focus on consumer rights when purchasing food products online and the regulatory framework of the European Union (EU). Are the eight basic consumer rights recognized by the UN included in e-commerce operations and are they sufficient to protect consumers or do consumers need other principles that fit the new phenomenon in e-commerce operations? The main objective of this research are to study the current situation of e-commerce around the world and identify the principles of online consumer protection. The legal jurisprudence approach was used, supplemented by illustrative research, and the intensive desk research approach was used to collect data. The study employs a legal-analytical methodology to evaluate how EU regulations, including Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights, Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 on food safety, and Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, guarantee fairness, traceability, and transparency in online food markets. The results showed that there is no objection to using the basic rules for protecting the ordinary consumer, but there is a need to create additional laws to protect the electronic consumer, or to amend what is existing in line with the developments, which would protect individuals from deceptive and misleading policies and practices of unfair commercial conduct that takes place over the Internet.