The Federal Trade Commission is effectively accusing Amazon of using “sludge”—a term for excessive and unjustified friction—to trap its Prime subscribers. A trial has now started where the government will argue that the company’s “Iliad” cancellation process was a textbook example of this illegal digital obstacle course.
“Sludge” is the opposite of a “nudge”; it’s the use of design to make processes harder, not easier. The FTC’s case claims that Amazon deliberately introduced sludge into its cancellation flow, with multiple pages, confusing options, and redundant clicks, all designed to slow down and deter the user.
The lawsuit alleges that this sludgy exit was paired with a frictionless entrance. The use of “dark patterns” at checkout created a smooth, easy path into a Prime subscription, often with a single click. The stark contrast between the ease of entry and the difficulty of exit is a key piece of the FTC’s evidence.
This trial is one of the first major legal challenges to the use of sludge as a business tactic. A victory for the FTC could lead to a broader crackdown on companies that make it easy to sign up for services but intentionally difficult to cancel, a common practice across many industries.
Amazon will likely argue that what the FTC calls “sludge” was actually a series of important confirmation steps. The company’s defense is that these steps were necessary to ensure a customer was certain about their decision to cancel a service with many integrated benefits.