IT’S NOT JUST A VIDEO GAME. FORTNITE AND THE CASE OF DARK PATTERNS: THE ROLE OF DESIGN STANDARDS IN PROTECTING CHILDREN ONLINE

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) secured one of the highest agreements in its history against Epic Games Inc., the creator of the popular hit video game Fortnite, for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the FTC Act. Part of the complaint regarded deploying “deceptive” design techniques—namely dark patterns—to manipulate users, mostly of them minors. This paper examines the complex topic of dark patterns in relation to children through an analysis of this case and the taxonomy proposed by international institutions. It advances the idea that protecting children in the digital environment can be achieved only through their empowerment, as exemplified by the UK Age-Appropriate Design Code. The article shows that the empowerment of the individual goes hand in hand with the empowerment of the collectivity, calling for a robust response to preserve what dark patterns specifically aim at destroying: the autonomy and identity of the person.