Central Idea

The Indian government has invited public feedback on draft guidelines aimed at preventing and regulating “dark patterns” on the internet, particularly within e-commerce platforms.
These guidelines target deceptive tactics such as false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription traps, and other manipulative practices.

Understanding Dark Patterns

The draft guidelines define dark patterns as deceptive design practices that utilize user interface and user experience interactions on any platform.
These practices are designed to mislead or trick users into actions they did not initially intend or want to take.
Dark patterns undermine consumer autonomy, decision-making, and choice, potentially constituting misleading advertising, unfair trade practices, or violations of consumer rights.

“False urgency” involves falsely conveying or implying a sense of urgency to users.
“Basket sneaking” entails adding additional items to a user’s cart during the checkout process without their consent.
“Confirm shaming” uses phrases, videos, audio, or other means to evoke fear, shame, ridicule, or guilt in users.
“Forced action” compels users to take actions that necessitate purchasing additional goods.
“Subscription trap” makes it nearly impossible or overly complex for users to cancel paid subscriptions.
“Interface interference” manipulates the user interface for deceptive purposes.
“Bait and switch” advertises a specific outcome based on user actions.
“Drip pricing” conceals elements of prices until later in the transaction.
“Disguised advertisement” and “nagging” are also defined in the guidelines.

The Ministry states that these guidelines will apply to all individuals and online platforms, including sellers and advertisers.

Legal experts appreciate the introduction of the draft guidelines but raises concerns about enforcement.
They highlight the challenge of conclusively proving whether certain practices qualify as dark patterns.
Famous is the example of the “false category” and the difficulty regulators may face in determining if claims like “only 2 rooms remaining – book now!” are genuinely accurate or misleading due to a lack of context.
Some categories of dark patterns, such as e-retail sites adding items to users’ carts without their consent, are seen as easier to regulate, while others like “disguised advertisements” may require further clarification.