A Los Angeles court has ruled that Meta and YouTube designed addictive products which harmed young people and has awarded £4.5 million in damages. The decision is due to be appealed but appears to add to increasing momentum in the West against “dark patterns”.
What are dark patterns?
Dark patterns are design techniques used by (usually) websites to deceive, coerce or manipulate consumers into making decisions that are no longer free, informed or genuinely autonomous. They operate by steering users toward outcomes that benefit the business rather than the individual. Common examples include making it harder to opt out of something than to opt in and presenting options in a way that nudges users toward the site’s preferred choice.
Over recent years, concerns about harm (particularly to children and young adults) have prompted increased attention from regulators and legislators.
How does the UK deal with dark patterns?
As of March 2026, the UK does not have a single definition of “dark patterns” and does not explicitly prohibit them. Instead, the UK regulates the behaviours caught by dark patterns indirectly primarily through consumer regulation, the CAP Code and UK GDPR.
Consumer regulation in the UK mainly governs dark patterns through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). The legislation expressly prohibits certain dark patterns and contains additional, flexible provisions which the regulator may apply to prevent others. Some examples of dark patterns dealt with by the DMCCA include subscription traps (making it hard to cancel a subscription), drip pricing and pressure selling.
The UK GDPR enables the ICO (the UK data regulator) to deal with dark patterns which involve personal data. It enables this via a number of routes including overarching principles like fairness and transparency and specific requirements, such as those around consent.
The final method of regulation, the CAP Code, applies to non-broadcast marketing communications. It contains various requirements which the Advertising Standards Authority (the Regulator which enforces the Code) can use to prohibit or mitigate the impact of many types of dark patterns. Examples include drip pricing and subscription traps.
The US decision
A Los Angeles court found that Meta and Youtube had intentionally designed addictive platforms which harmed the mental health of the user in question. This included features such as infinite scrolling and content recommendation algorithms.
The jury found that design of the interfaces was a “substantial factor” in causing psychological harm to a young user.
The liability in this case arose from a finding of negligence (rather than a breach of a particular legislative provision banning dark patterns) and was particularly focused on the age of the plaintiff when they were exposed to the harmful features.
Potential impact in the UK and Europe
Both the UK and EU are increasingly recognising dark patterns as an area of concern.
In the UK, the ICO and CMA have referenced manipulative design in guidance, enforcement priorities and public statements, signalling a clear regulatory shift.
In the EU, the European Commission is set to bring the Digital Fairness Act forward within the next year or so. This Act will strengthen the rules across the EU by closing gaps left in previous legislation. Amongst other things, the Act plans to restrict the use of dark patterns by prohibiting deceptive digital design, including hidden opt-outs.
Increasing scrutiny in the US of dark patterns, even though pressure is coming via the courts and not legislators, may support further action in the UK and Europe, including around addictive designs (which have traditionally not been dealt with by regulations governing dark patterns). Support is likely to be particularly galvanised given the prominence of US companies online and a potential perception of a shrinking expectation gap between the US and Europe, which may reduce the resistance of technology companies to greater governance and encourage them to more proactively make changes to their interfaces.
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