E-Ticarette Karanlık Tasarım (Dark Pattern) Uygulamaları: Pozitif Türk Hukuku ve İslâm Hukuku Bakımından Değerlendirme
Dark Pattern Practices in E-Commerce: An Assessment from the Perspectives of Positive Turkish Law and Islamic Law

Summary/Abstract: With the rapid expansion of digital technologies, commercial activities have increasingly shifted to online environments, giving rise to various subtle and often invisible manipulation techniques commonly referred to as dark patterns. Dark patterns are interface design strategies that intentionally steer, pressure, or mislead users into making decisions they would not otherwise choose under conditions of full information and genuine freedom of choice. These practices are particularly prevalent in e-commerce platforms, subscription-based services, and digital advertising, where consumers’ decision-making processes are influenced through design rather than explicit persuasion. This study examines dark patterns from a comparative legal perspective, focusing on Turkish positive law and Islamic law. The main argument of the article is that although dark patterns are a contemporary and technologically mediated concept, their underlying logic—the manipulation of consent and distortion of informed choice—closely corresponds to legal and ethical concerns long addressed in both legal traditions. From the perspective of Turkish law, dark patterns are not regulated as a distinct legal concept. Nevertheless, they fall within the scope of consumer protection rules, particularly under the Law on the Protection of Consumers No. 6502 and the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices. These instruments prohibit practices that significantly distort, or are likely to distort, the economic behaviour of consumers. Within this framework, dark patterns generally appear as misleading actions, misleading omissions, or aggressive commercial practices. Decisions of the Advertising Board further demonstrate that interface-based manipulations, such as hidden costs, artificial urgency, or misleading presentation of contractual conditions, may constitute unlawful commercial practices. From the perspective of Islamic law, the concept of dark pattern—a modern concept—overlaps in terms of content and purpose with many prohibited acts discussed in classical fiqh literature. In this study, the relationship between dark patterns and Islamic law is analysed through the concepts of taghrīr (misleading inducement), tadlīs (concealment of defects or deceptive presentation), ghabn (manifest imbalance in consideration), and najash (artificial manipulation of demand or price perception). These doctrines share a common normative foundation: the prohibition of conduct that distorts the will of the other party through deception, concealment, or manipulation. Islamic law places particular emphasis on transparency, honesty, and fairness in commercial transactions. Accordingly, practices that obscure essential information, exaggerate scarcity or popularity, or create false impressions regarding price or value are regarded as violations of both legal and ethical norms. The study concludes that Turkish law and Islamic law converge in their objective of protecting consumers, although they differ in their conceptual frameworks and methods. Turkish law adopts a regulatory and result-oriented approach focusing on the effects of practices on consumer behaviour, whereas Islamic law integrates legal rules with moral accountability by emphasising intention, honesty, and the preservation of trust in market relations. The study also demonstrates that deceptive commercial practices may be evaluated not only from the perspective of private law but also in terms of sanctions, and that such practices can be addressed under the concept of ta‘zīr in Islamic law.

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