Article 5 of the EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) prohibits AI systems that use subliminal techniques beyond a person's consciousness, or manipulative or deceptive techniques, to materially distort behavior in ways that cause significant harm. It also bans systems that exploit vulnerabilities of specific populations (age, disability, socio-economic status), social scoring by public authorities, and most real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces for law enforcement (with narrow emergency exceptions).
These are categorical prohibitions — not transparency requirements, not impact-assessment requirements. Such systems cannot be placed on the EU market or put into service regardless of disclosure.