Do we as developers have the power, or the desire to push back against these practices?
We absolutely have the power. If you work for a company that wants to do this, you can prevent this. Or you can quit. It might be a weird hill to die on, bu remember that you are part of the problem the company you work for creates. You are not absolved because you are "just an employee".
As a software developer you also have to consider ethics. The ACM and IEEE-CS have a code of ethics. The first three are
1.1 Contribute to society and to human well-being, acknowledging that all people are stakeholders in computing.
1.2 Avoid harm.
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.
Coercive patterns (as described in this article) and dark patterns are a violation of those ethics.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
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We absolutely have the power. If you work for a company that wants to do this, you can prevent this. Or you can quit. It might be a weird hill to die on, bu remember that you are part of the problem the company you work for creates. You are not absolved because you are "just an employee".
As a software developer you also have to consider ethics. The ACM and IEEE-CS have a code of ethics. The first three are
Coercive patterns (as described in this article) and dark patterns are a violation of those ethics.