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The Issue of Dark Patterns in Digital Platforms: The Challenge for Indonesia’s Consumer Protection Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2025

Adis Nur Hayati Open the ORCID record for Adis Nur Hayati [Opens in a new window]
Adis Nur Hayati*
Affiliation:
The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, Indonesia
*
Email: adis011@brin.go.id
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Abstract

Dark patterns have become a pervasive issue around the world. However, Indonesia has not taken any action to deal with the situation. This article aims to analyse the issue of dark patterns in digital platforms from Indonesia’s consumer protection law perspective. It contends that Indonesia’s consumer protection law is not adequate in overcoming the issue of dark patterns in digital platforms. Several laws regulate basic principles and provisions that indirectly prohibit dark patterns, but these regulations can only be applied to certain forms of dark patterns and are difficult to implement. The article suggests that Indonesia must specifically regulate the prohibition of the practices of dark patterns in its current law. The regulations do not have to define the term “dark patterns” directly; however, they should expressly regulate prohibitions against the practice of using design interfaces in a way that subverts or impairs consumers’ autonomy and/or exploits consumers’ behavioural biases.

Keywords

dark patternsmanipulative designdigital platformconsumer protection lawIndonesia’s law
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , First View , pp. 1 - 13
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

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