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The Confirmshaming Dark Pattern
Violates: GDPR (Consent must be freely given)
What is it?
Guilt-tripping the user into opting into a choice by wording the decline option in a way that is shameful, derogatory, or makes the user feel bad.
Why it's harmful
It relies on emotional manipulation and social pressure to extract consent, rather than allowing the user to make a neutral, logical choice.
Example in the wild
"A pop-up offering a discount code where the accept button says "Yes, I want to save money!" and the decline button says "No thanks, I prefer paying full price and losing money.""
How to fix it
Use neutral language for both choices. "Yes, subscribe" and "No, thank you" are sufficient.
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