Dark Patterns

Dark patterns are interface practices designed to steer users into decisions they would not otherwise make, such as buying an unwanted product, keeping a subscription or sharing personal data. Turkish law has no general rule specifically defining them, but most such practices are prohibited under existing rules.

Common Examples and Applicable Rules

• Hidden costs: Extra fees appearing at the last step of checkout; unfair commercial practice and price labelling rules.
• False urgency and scarcity: Untrue countdowns, “only 1 left” or “20 people are viewing this” messages; unfair commercial practice and discount advertising rules.
• Obstructing cancellation: A subscription easy to start but cancellable only through complex steps or by phone; subscription rules.
• Pre-ticked boxes: Add-ons, insurance or marketing consent boxes pre-ticked by default; explicit consent and commercial electronic message consent rules.
• Confirmshaming: Refusal options that shame the user, such as “No, I don’t want a discount”.
• Cookie walls: Cookie banners hiding or obstructing the reject option; cookie rules.

The European Union

In the EU, the Digital Services Act expressly prohibits online platforms from designing interfaces that deceive or manipulate users; consumer law and the GDPR are also applied against dark patterns. Turkish companies serving EU users are subject to these rules too.

In Practice

Reviewing order, membership, subscription and consent flows screen by screen is the most effective way to identify dark patterns. The key test for design decisions should be: “Is the user really taking this step knowingly?”