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moe90@feddit.nl to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 5 months ago

Discord sued by users claiming Nitro subscription is too difficult to cancel

www.dexerto.com

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Discord sued by users claiming Nitro subscription is too difficult to cancel

www.dexerto.com

moe90@feddit.nl to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 5 months ago
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Discord sued by users claiming Nitro subscription is too difficult to cancel - Dexerto
www.dexerto.com
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Discord is being sued over Nitro, their subscription service, being too difficult to cancel. The suit claims their practice is anti-consumer.
  • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    5 months ago

    What the other user here is documenting Discord doing with the cancel button that doesn’t look like a cancel button are called “Dark Patterns.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_pattern

    The point of a Dark Pattern is to make options unclear and how to do things just ever so slightly confusing. Why? Because unlike you and me, this will trip up a significant number of users. They wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t working.

    Further, the US FTC considers Dark Patterns such a big deal that in 2021 they committed to ramping up enforcement of removing Dark Patterns that make it difficult to cancel subscriptions.

    https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-ramp-enforcement-against-illegal-dark-patterns-trick-or-trap-consumers-subscriptions

    It’s also important to note that Discord is being sued through a California law:

    https://casetext.com/statute/california-codes/california-business-and-professions-code/division-7-general-business-regulations/part-3-representations-to-the-public/chapter-1-advertising/article-9-automatic-purchase-renewals/section-17602-unlawful-acts-by-business-making-automatic-renewal-or-continuous-service-offer-to-consumer#:~:text=2024 Legislative Session.-,Section 17602 - Unlawful acts by business making automatic renewal or,the automatic renewal offer terms

    When you read through this, the Dark Patterns that Discord uses definitely fall under this law. One hopes that the FTC will do some follow-up with Discord as well.

    But I mean, go ahead, keep denying that psychological tricks are being used to make it difficult for some people to cancel. Not everyone’s brain works the same ways, and things that are easy to see for you aren’t easy to see for everyone. When it comes to consumer protections, we protect everyone, we don’t just say “You must be dumb, sucks to be you! I guess that means it’s okay to exploit you!” I mean, I personally am not cool with tricking the mentally handicapped for a quick buck.

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