It's not the be-all-end-all but it's also not a knee-jerk thought. Legislation (and government) is how we solve the collective action problem. That's what it's there for.
Sure, individual developers should stop deploying dark patterns. Many many developers do, though, and saying they shouldn't isn't going to change things. Change requires collective action, rather than expecting a huge number of developers to magically reorder their priorities. And unless you think a nationwide ad campaign is more feasible, that means legislation.
>And unless you think a nationwide ad campaign is more feasible
On a tangent, I wonder what the response rate of Facebook's nationwide ad campaign looks like. Not really sure what the point of Facebook's campaign is, but it's a really lame ass commercial. I hope they are paying above market rate for it too. Any laws being passed to regulate Facebook would immediately be suspicious to me wondering how much FB spent to write said legislation. Just like when the rules regulating TV owners could only own a certain percentage didn't make anyone actually sell anything. So many pieces of legislation are like this. I don't see "Don't be evil on the interwebs" regulations being any different. Maybe I'm cynical, maybe I'm too pessimistic, but it's not like I'm grabbing my hesitancy from air.
Wasn't trying to derail conversation into ad companies. Just used some examples on how laws aren't always about public interest, but more the interest of those being affected by the law so the effect is the least disruptive as possible.
Sure, individual developers should stop deploying dark patterns. Many many developers do, though, and saying they shouldn't isn't going to change things. Change requires collective action, rather than expecting a huge number of developers to magically reorder their priorities. And unless you think a nationwide ad campaign is more feasible, that means legislation.