Clampdown on ecommerce dark patterns may raise compliance burden for companies

The government’s move to clampdown on so-called ‘dark patterns’ used by consumer internet companies to manipulate shoppers into buying more will increase compliance burden on these companies but may not succeed in addressing the issue immediately, said lawyers and industry executives.

Dark patterns refer to manipulative and deceptive design practices deployed by ecommerce, quick commerce and ride-hailing companies on their apps to trick users into making unintended purchases or make it difficult for them to unsubscribe from membership…