Worries over the health and safety of children online have triggered new regulations and legislative proposals on both sides of the Atlantic that aim to rein in the way platform technology firms interact with kids. In the UK, guidelines expected to come into force this year would prevent companies like Facebook from using features such as “likes” to nudge users into staying online longer, so that their data can be harvested and sold to advertisers. In the US, senators have put forward legislation to ban “dark patterns”, or digital interfaces designed to trick users into giving up data. There is also a lot of draft legislation that could set new limits on advertisements that platforms can target towards children, and what types of content they can view online.

All of it reflects concern over how “persuasive technology” used by platform companies like Facebook, Google and others can exploit human psychology for commercial gain. “Captology”, as the field of persuasive tech development is known, uses a variety of psychological techniques such as variable rewards and social pressure to influence behaviour online. Many tools of online persuasion are similar to what might be used in the gaming industry. Critics point out that consumers now carry a “slot machine in their pockets” in the form of their smartphones.

Persuasive technologies loop users into spending more time online than is healthy and giving up more personal information than they would otherwise. One example would be the so-called “streaks” that reward Snapchat users who send messages on consecutive days with special emojis that keep them coming back. Another would be the way in which children are lured towards “free” games online and end up spending more and more on “loot boxes” of special, costly features that allow them to win more, and play longer, creating an endlessly profitable feedback loop. Then there are the dark patterns, or digital interfaces designed to push users in certain directions online, often by creating default settings that compromise privacy in ways that are advantageous for companies — and at least somewhat deceptive for users.