The use of the internet, which has become an integral part of daily life, has created a new market area for both consumers and those engaged in commercial activities. The ability to quickly and easily access products and services online encourages consumers to turn to e-commerce. On the other hand, merchants seeking to make a profit have begun to engage in online activities to reach a wider customer base and increase their turnover. This has led to a change in the dynamics of the relationship between consumers and merchants. Commercial activities conducted online between a merchant and a consumer begin with the effective presentation of the product or service to the consumer prior to the contract. This presentation is carried out through interface designs. Individuals who interact with consumers through interface designs establish pre-contractual trust through the elements they use in their designs. Some interface designs are deceptive and manipulative, affecting consumer autonomy and the consumer’s ability to make decisions and choices. These interface designs are referred to as dark patterns in doctrine and practice.

Dark patterns can currently be divided into three categories: manipulative dark patterns, deceptive dark patterns, and interactive dark patterns. Manipulative dark patterns include: preselecting certain options presented to the consumer in a way that is disadvantageous to them, using provocative language to steer the consumer toward a specific choice, creating a sense of ignorance and inexperience in consumers through complex and misleading statements, or providing benefits unrelated to the transaction the consumer wishes to perform through practices such as screen blackout or redirecting to another site. Similarly, organizing a product’s stock information in a way that misleads consumers, creating a false sense of urgency to encourage consumers to purchase discounted products, or disclosing additional costs for a product or service only at the payment stage are examples of misleading dark patterns. Finally, the study addresses interactive dark patterns. Consumers are exposed to dark patterns during the collection of personal data and application data through cookies. Data collected through dark patterns appears in personalized advertising applications in ways that consumers cannot detect. The concept of the consumer as defined by law should be re-examined in light of users who are vulnerable in the online environment. It should also be noted that with the development of awareness and legal regulations regarding dark patterns, new types of dark patterns are likely to emerge. In particular, the frequent discussion of addictive interface designs in today’s literature leads us to expect further developments in the context of dark patterns.

The European Union has taken steps on this issue through regulations such as the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UDCP), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) within the scope of dark patterns. Although there is no direct terminology for this concept in Turkish law, methods used in the online environment to influence consumers’ decision-making or choice through the use of guiding interface designs, options, or statements, or to alter decisions that consumers would normally make in favor of the seller or provider, are considered unfair commercial practices. (Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation Annex A/22) Such unfair commercial practices constitute an obstacle to consumers’ ability to make informed decisions. For this reason, the Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 has tasked the Advertising Board with establishing the principles that must be followed in commercial advertisements and regulating and supervising unfair commercial practices to protect consumers. Administrative courts conduct proportionality and appropriateness reviews of the decisions made by the Advertising Board. However, no substantive review is conducted. As a result of evaluations conducted by the Board without even appointing experts, businesses may face significant administrative penalties. The failure to subject decisions made without adhering to the procedural rules required by the rule of law to substantive review is contrary to fairness. In the relevant study, various issues that may arise in practice will be discussed within the scope of the authority granted to the Advertising Board.

The Advertising Board is a mixed body with a small number of legal experts. Furthermore, the Board’s investigations are limited to specialized commissions established as needed and which only evaluate specific sectoral areas. Therefore, no investigations are conducted into unfair commercial practices carried out directly in the online environment. In this period where commercial activities in the online environment have become widespread and instances of apparent legal violations have increased, the Board’s investigations are insufficient. Indeed, the Board’s decisions primarily focus on investigations related to subscription and cancellation processes.

The establishment of case law regarding dark patterns, which are not examined in detail and comprehensively and are regulated by general terms in the Regulation, is important for the effective protection of consumers. In addition to this issue, the position of consumers exposed to dark patterns in terms of the burden of proof will be discussed, and recommendations will be made to enable them to effectively exercise their rights of appeal.

Another issue that may cause confusion for consumers in practice is the legal remedies available against dark patterns. The study will evaluate the administrative oversight conducted by the Advertising Board, as well as consumers’ options for seeking judicial recourse. Following these evaluations, potential disputes that may arise for consumers who pursue both judicial and administrative avenues will be discussed. Finally, recommendations for legislative reforms aimed at addressing these issues will be presented.