{"id":45110,"date":"2026-04-29T16:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/?p=45110"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:29:29","slug":"costa-rica-approves-new-law-on-digital-services-and-e-commerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/costa-rica-approves-new-law-on-digital-services-and-e-commerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rica approves new law on digital services and e-commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica has approved the new Law on the Governance of Digital Services and Electronic Commerce. The new regulation governs both information society services, including platforms and intermediaries, and e-commerce transactions, introducing specific obligations related to liability, transparency, and consumer protection.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Unlike traditional regulations, the law establishes a broad framework that covers:<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Digital platforms and intermediaries.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Advertising and commercial communications.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Electronic contracting.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Content moderation.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Digital interface design.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Platform liability<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>One of the most significant changes is the introduction of a liability regime for digital intermediaries.<\/p>\r\n<p>Platforms will not be automatically liable for third-party content; <strong>however, they will be required to act diligently once they have knowledge of unlawful content, implementing notice-and-takedown mechanisms.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>This model strikes a balance between innovation and oversight, but also increases the legal exposure of companies operating as digital intermediaries, including those using hybrid or B2B models.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Ban on \u201cdark patterns\u201d: design now regulated<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h3><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">The law prohibits manipulative digital practices, including:<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Automatic subscriptions without clear consent.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Pre-checked boxes.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Interfaces that make it difficult to cancel services.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Designs intended to steer users toward decisions against their interests.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>As a result, UX\/UI design is no longer purely a commercial matter, it now carries direct legal implications.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Consumer protection: higher standards in digital environments<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>The new framework significantly strengthens information and transparency obligations in the digital environment, requiring providers to clearly identify themselves to consumers and to fully disclose the prices and costs associated with the goods or services offered.<\/p>\r\n<p>It also mandates obtaining the user\u2019s express confirmation before finalizing any transaction, as well as the obligation to issue transaction receipts. Additionally, <strong>it prohibits the sending of commercial communications without the recipient\u2019s prior consent, thereby reinforcing consumer protection standards in electronic environments.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>The goal is to ensure that the level of protection in the digital environment is not lower than that of traditional commerce, aligning the digital ecosystem with principles of transparency and informed decision-making.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Broad scope: impact beyond large platforms<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h3><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">The law applies to any individual or company that provides digital services or engages in commercial activities through electronic means. This includes:<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>E-commerce companies.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Fintechs.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Technology platforms.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Professional services firms.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Brands operating digitally.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Online marketing strategies.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>In practice, this makes digital regulation a cross-cutting issue for multiple industries, not just technology companies.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Entry into force and strategic opportunity<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>The regulation will enter into force 12 months after its publication, during which time the Executive Branch must issue the corresponding implementing regulations.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>This period creates a window for companies to review their digital business models, update their terms and conditions, assess risks related to user experience, marketing, and data practices, and implement compliance frameworks aligned with the new regulatory requirements.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica has approved the new&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":45113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[288,355],"class_list":["post-45110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-costa-rica","tag-digital-services"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45110"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45119,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45110\/revisions\/45119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}