On July 14, a U.S. appeals court blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule, which aimed to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis deemed that the FTC, led by former Democratic Chair Lina Khan, did not adequately assess the costs and benefits of the rule.
The regulation would have mandated that companies allow customers to cancel subscriptions in the same manner they signed up. This means if the sign-up process was quick and seamless, canceling should be just as effortless, without the need to jump through hoops or interact with chatbots.
Furthermore, the rule would have required businesses to seek consent before charging customers for memberships, auto-renewals, or services linked to free trial offers.
