Washington — Federal regulators are looking to crack down on fake reviews and other deceptive Internet practices.
The Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule on Friday that would ban paying for reviews, suppressing honest reviews, selling fake social media engagement and more. Businesses will also be prohibited from running company-controlled websites that claim to be independent, and from conducting other deceptive practices such as “review hijacking”, which makes reviews for a product appear as though they are They were written for significantly different people.
If the proposed rule is approved after a 60-day public comment period, violators could face steep penalties.
“Our proposed rule on fake reviews shows that we are using all available tools to attack deceptive advertising in the digital age,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The rule will enforce civil penalties for violators and help provide a level playing field for honest companies.”
In Friday’s notice for the proposed rule-making, the FTC noted that it already considers fake reviews and other deceptive practices illegal — but the new restrictions “may increase deterrence against these practices,” allowing for civil penalties. and help victims get financial compensation. the agency said.
According to researchers at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles’s Anderson School of Management, estimates regarding the share of online reviews range from 4% to more than 30%. According to 2021 data from the World Economic Forum and CHEQ, fake reviews impact approximately $152 billion in global spending each year.
In addition to the FTC’s efforts to combat fake reviews in the past — including a multimillion-dollar settlement with online retailers — more companies say they are now taking deceptive online practices seriously.
For example, last July, Amazon filed a lawsuit against administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups accused of coordinating fake reviews in exchange for money or free products — and on Tuesday, the company announced four additional prosecutions against fraudsters attempting to defraud. Mislead Amazon customers and harm Amazon sales partners by facilitating fake reviews.
Earlier this month, Google announced legal action against a “bad actor” who posted more than 350 fake Google Business profiles and tried to promote them with more than 14,000 fake reviews, the company said.
The FTC’s Friday proposal follows the agency’s November announcement to explore the possibility of rulemaking.
