Amazon is facing two new lawsuits in the US. One of the lawsuits filed by Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes accuses the e-commerce giant of engaging in deceptive business practices, the Verge reported.
The lawsuit alleges that the company violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by using design tricks also known as “dark patterns” to keep users from cancelling their Amazon Prime subscriptions.
The US-based company is also facing a similar lawsuit from the country’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which was filed in June 2023.
What are “dark patterns”
These “dark patterns” on e-commerce websites are said to be intended to deceive customers or manipulate their choices. Last year, India banned these practices and decided to impose a penalty on e-tailers using them as per the Consumer Protection Act.
A gazette notification from the government in December 2023 defined dark patterns as a practice or deceptive pattern that uses its UI or user’s past interactions with a platform to mislead or trick users into doing something they originally did not want to do. With such tactics, e-commerce platforms can undermine or weaken the consumer’s choice or decision-making.
To protect consumers’ interests, the government banned the use of “dark patterns” on e-commerce platforms under the guidelines issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
What Amazon has to say about the new lawsuit
According to a report by The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said that the company was “surprised and disappointed by these cases.”
Doyle added that the Arizona AG filed the lawsuit without reviewing “a single document from Amazon, resulting in a fundamental misunderstanding and mischaracterisation of how Amazon’s businesses work.”
Meanwhile, the other lawsuit filed against Amazon accuses the company of breaking Arizona’s Uniform State Antitrust Act by unfairly maintaining monopoly status.
This regulatory lawsuit alleges that the company has enforced agreements with third-party sellers that restrict them from offering lower prices on other platforms than what they do on Amazon.
The anti-trust suit also used the state’s Consumer Fraud Act to target Amazon’s Buy Box algorithm. This system determines which product in a category gets the best placement with a “Buy Now” button.
