Dark Patterns On Digital Platforms: Are ‘Your' Online Decisions ‘Really' Your Own

Have you ever been unable to find the unsubscribe/delete button on a social media application? Added an item to your shopping cart only to realize later that the price displayed to you initially was substantially lower than the check-out price? Were you forced to provide personal data to gain access to a website/application? These are all examples of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements deployed by digital platforms to manipulate users, i.e., dark patterns.

The Advertising Standards Council of India ("ASCI") recently released a discussion paper on these dark patterns used by digital platforms which may cause harm to the users ("Discussion Paper"). As explained in the Discussion Paper, a dark pattern is a user interface, crafted to trick or manipulate users into making choices that are detrimental to their interest.