• Journal of Information Technology Services
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.73-89
• /
• 2022

After COVID-19, the percentage of digital consumption has soared. Meanwhile, as the online platform market grows in size and digital commerce is activated, controversy over the "dark pattern" that induces consumers to do unintended things online continues. Dark patterns are deceptive design patterns that cause consumer rights and financial damage and can result in damaging fair market competition. As a result, the need to regulate dark patterns is raised not only by overseas regulators but also in Korea, and there are growing calls for strengthening consumer protection against dark patterns, with amendments to related laws being proposed by the National Assembly. On the other hand, there is no agreed definition of dark pattern from a normative point of view, and there is a concern that even legitimate advertising marketing activities of companies may be regulated, so a review of dark pattern regulatory measures is required. In this study, dark patterns were reviewed from a normative point of view and appropriate regulatory measures were analyzed. In particular, the problem of the dark pattern can be applied in a way that the market regulates and controls itself in consideration of the characteristics of the online platform. This study reviewed the possibility of self-regulation for dart patterns and proposed the role of each subject.