WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon.com on Wednesday, alleging the retail giant worked for years to enroll consumers without consent into Amazon Prime and made it difficult to cancel their subscriptions to the program. The FTC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Seattle, alleged that Amazon has duped millions of consumers into enrolling in Amazon Prime, a subscription service costing $139 annually. The FTC’s complaint alleged that Amazon used “manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user interface designs known as dark patterns" to dupe users into automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. Amazon Prime gives members access to free two-day shipping, plus extra privileges like music and video streaming. At the FTC, Khan has advocated for integrating the agency’s two missions, antitrust enforcement and consumer protection.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 21, 2023 16:26 UTC