Thirty-one theses on dating capitalism
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PART FOUR — THE OTHER LEDGER
I
Revenue up, payers down
II
Success ends subscriptions
III
Manufactured scarcity
IV
One owner, many brands
Hidden ranking, patented swipe
VI
Volume produces refusal
VII
The app is the destination
VIII
Demographic pricing
IX
Fabricated interest
X
Safety became an upgrade
XI
Intentionality drives growth
XII
Queer platforms consolidated
XIII
Contraction intensifies extraction
XIV
Free users are inventory
XV
Global risk, concentrated revenue
XVI
Health data as telemetry
XVII
Data as national security
XVIII
Membership reveals identity
XIX
Identification without breach
XX
Profiles sold as commodities
XXI
The platform remembers more
XXII
Community versus its workers
XXIII
Extraction is optional
XXIV
Refusal is not innocence
XXV
The grid is optional
XXVI
Filtering is not sorting
XXVII
The applications work
XXVIII
Lifeline and trap
XXIX
Loneliness is the market
XXX
Companionship without reciprocity
XXXI
Named, not stopped
THESIS XXXI
PART FOUR — THE OTHER LEDGER
Regulators have named the mechanism without halting it.
The dark pattern is prohibited. The like limit remains.
Article 25 of the Digital Services Act prohibits dark-pattern interfaces. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on addictive design in December 2023 by 545 votes to 12. The Commission's fitness check on consumer law estimated harm from unfair digital practices at no less than €7.9 billion a year and opened consultation on a Digital Fairness Act in 2025, with a proposal expected in late 2026. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's click-to-cancel rule was vacated by the Eighth Circuit in July 2025 on procedural grounds. Every mechanism named in these thirty-one theses has been described in a statute, a resolution or a complaint. The like limits are still there this morning.
EVIDENCE SNAPSHOT
545–12
EP VOTE
European Parliament vote on addictive digital design
≥€7.9B
ANNUAL HARM
Estimated yearly harm from unfair digital practices
Late 2026
DIGITAL FAIRNESS ACT
Expected timing of the Digital Fairness Act proposal
Active
STATUS
Named mechanisms remain active despite regulatory recognition
KEY FINDING
Article 25 of the Digital Services Act prohibits dark-pattern interfaces.
IMPLICATION
Regulatory recognition has advanced faster than enforcement and product change.
Source apparatus
SOURCE 01
|
LEGISLATION / POLICY REVIEW
European Commission. (2024). Digital fairness — Fitness check on EU consumer law (Staff Working Document).
SOURCE 02
|
LEGISLATION / POLICY REVIEW
European Parliament. (2023, December 12). Resolution on addictive design of online services and consumer protection.