FTC Accuses Amazon of Tricking Millions of Consumers With 'Dark Patterns'

FTC Accuses Amazon of, Tricking Millions of Consumers , With 'Dark Patterns' .
On June 21, the United States Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the online giant
of tricking consumers into hard-to-cancel paid subscriptions.
Reuters reports that the FTC alleges that , "Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers
into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.".
According to the FTC, Amazon used , "manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.".
Prime currently has over
200 million members globally.
An annual Prime membership
in the United States generally , costs about $139. .
Following news of the lawsuit, , shares in Amazon were
trading down 1%. .
Following news of the lawsuit, , shares in Amazon were
trading down 1%. .
Reuters reports that the FTC's investigation into
Amazon's sign-up and cancellation processes has
been under way since March of 2021.
Amazon tricked and trapped people into
recurring subscriptions without their
consent, not only frustrating users but
also costing them significant money, Lina Khan, FTC Chair, via Reuters.
According to the FTC lawsuit, consumers looking to cancel their Prime memberships were faced with a multi-step process.
The lawsuit cites media reporting that
said Amazon referred to the process as
"Iliad," a reference to Homer's epic poem. .
The lawsuit cites media reporting that
said Amazon referred to the process as
"Iliad," a reference to Homer's epic poem.