Abstract

Purpose: As competition in the online platform market heats up due to the growing online presence, there is a growing interest in consumer protection legislation to protect consumers. The current online platform law has been criticized for its limitations in regulating the rapidly evolving platform economy. In particular, there is an ongoing need to regulate 'dark patterns' that deceive and mislead consumers. Research Design and Methods: This trend has been recognized not only in Korea, but also in Europe and the United States, which have enacted related regulatory bills, making some types of dark patterns illegal. It is necessary to protect consumers from dark patterns. However, there are some opinions that legal regulations do not protect consumers, but reduce consumer choice, as there is no specific definition of 'dark patterns' or analysis of the damage status. It has also been argued that extensive regulations could shrink the online platform market. Results: Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the areas that can resolve consumers' complaints about dark patterns before the revised law is implemented. In addition, it should be a rational and efficient system so that the continuously growing online platform market does not shrink due to excessive regulations and can develop healthily through the prevention of dark patterns. Conclusions: Here, it is also extremely important to specifically present the scope and standards of regulations and reduce the scope for unnecessary legal interpretation. It can also be a good idea to strengthen the education of consumers and businesses on dark pattern problems and their solutions, and to create a foundation that allows them to solve problems autonomously.