DIREITOS DO CONSUMIDOR NA ERA DAS ASSINATURAS E SERVIÇOS DE STREAMING: ANÁLISE DOS DESAFIOS ENFRENTADOS PELOS CONSUMIDORES EM CONTRATOS DE ADESÃO RELACIONADOS A SERVIÇOS DE ASSINATURA E STREAMING

Abstract

This paper analyzes the legal challenges faced by consumers in adhesion contracts signed with digital subscription and streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify, which have transformed the way entertainment is consumed. Although these services have expanded access to cultural and informational content, they have also increased consumer vulnerability due to contractual practices that compromise the clarity, transparency, and balance of consumer relations. The research was conducted using a bibliographic and qualitative methodology with a deductive approach. It began with an analysis of the general principles of consumer law, as provided for in the Federal Constitution and the Consumer Protection Code (CDC), and then examined specific situations related to digital consumption. Case law from the Superior Court of Justice and the Court of Justice of São Paulo was also considered, as well as doctrinal studies by authors such as Cláudia Lima Marques, Flávio Tartuce, Pablo Stolze Gagliano, and Sílvio de Salvo Venosa. The results indicate that consumer vulnerability manifests itself at different levels: informational, technical, and economic. Issues such as automatic renewal without express consent, difficulty in cancellation, imposition of abusive clauses, and unilateral alteration of catalogs exemplify practices that affect contractual autonomy. In this scenario, the principles of objective good faith, the social function of the contract, transparency, and contractual balance play a central role in the 4 interpretation and control of clauses. International experience, particularly in the European Union, with the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), is presented as a regulatory parameter that reinforces algorithmic transparency, combats abuses by large digital platforms, and expands consumer freedom of choice. It is concluded that consumer protection in the digital age requires regulatory updates, more responsible business practices, and strengthening of users' digital education in order to build fair and balanced contractual relationships.