{"id":9792,"date":"2024-08-14T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/?p=9792"},"modified":"2024-08-14T11:12:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T15:12:07","slug":"federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-and-testimonials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-and-testimonials\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Trade Commission today <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/legal-library\/browse\/federal-register-notices\/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule\">announced a final rule<\/a> that will combat fake reviews and testimonials by prohibiting their sale or purchase and allow the agency to seek civil penalties against knowing violators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/federal.trade.commission\/viz\/FraudandIDTheftMaps\/FraudbyState\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"align-right media media--type-image media--view-mode-sm\">\n<div class=\"media__content\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__label usa-sr-only\">Image<\/div>\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item\">  <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/badge-explore-data-fraud1.jpg?resize=500%2C313&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"500\" height=\"313\" alt=\"Consumer Fraud graphic \" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 500\/313\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFake reviews not only waste people\u2019s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,\u201d said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. \u201cBy strengthening the FTC\u2019s toolkit to fight deceptive advertising, the final rule will protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and promote markets that are fair, honest, and competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The final rule announced today follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2022\/10\/ftc-explore-rulemaking-combat-fake-reviews-other-deceptive-endorsements\">an advance notice of proposed rulemaking<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2023\/06\/federal-trade-commission-announces-proposed-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials\">a notice of proposed rulemaking<\/a> announced in November 2022 and June 2023, respectively. The FTC also held an informal hearing on the proposed rule in February 2024. In response to public comments, the Commission made numerous clarifications and adjustments to its previous proposal.<\/p>\n<p>The final rule prohibits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fake or False Consumer Reviews, Consumer Testimonials, and Celebrity Testimonials:<\/strong> The final rule addresses reviews and testimonials that misrepresent that they are by someone who does not exist, such as AI-generated fake reviews, or who did not have actual experience with the business or its products or services, or that misrepresent the experience of the person giving it. It prohibits businesses from creating or selling such reviews or testimonials. It also prohibits them from buying such reviews, procuring them from company insiders, or disseminating such testimonials, when the business knew or should have known that the reviews or testimonials were fake or false.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Buying Positive or Negative Reviews:<\/strong> The final rule prohibits businesses from providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative. It clarifies that the conditional nature of the offer of compensation or incentive may be expressly or implicitly conveyed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Insider Reviews and Consumer Testimonials:<\/strong> The final rule prohibits certain reviews and testimonials written by company insiders that fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose the giver\u2019s material connection to the business. It prohibits such reviews and testimonials given by officers or managers. It also prohibits a business from disseminating such a testimonial that the business should have known was by an officer, manager, employee, or agent. Finally, it imposes requirements when officers or managers solicit consumer reviews from their own immediate relatives or from employees or agents \u2013 or when they tell employees or agents to solicit reviews from relatives and such solicitations result in reviews by immediate relatives of the employees or agents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Company-Controlled Review Websites:<\/strong> The final rule prohibits a business from misrepresenting that a website or entity it controls provides independent reviews or opinions about a category of products or services that includes its own products or services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Review Suppression:<\/strong> The final rule prohibits a business from using unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or certain false public accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review. The final rule also bars a business from misrepresenting that the reviews on a review portion of its website represent all or most of the reviews submitted when reviews have been suppressed based upon their ratings or negative sentiment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Misuse of Fake Social Media Indicators:<\/strong> The final rule prohibits anyone from selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence, such as\u00a0followers or views generated by a bot or hijacked account. This prohibition is limited to situations in which the buyer knew or should have known that the indicators were fake and misrepresent the buyer\u2019s influence or importance for a commercial purpose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the Commission noted previously, case-by-case enforcement without civil penalty authority might not be enough to deter clearly deceptive review and testimonial practices. The Supreme Court\u2019s decision in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC has hindered the FTC\u2019s ability to seek monetary relief for consumers under the FTC Act. This rule will enhance deterrence and strengthen FTC enforcement actions.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission vote to approve the final rule and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/legal-library\/browse\/federal-register-notices\/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule\">accompanying statement of basis and purpose<\/a> was 5-0. The rule will become effective 60 days after the date it\u2019s published in the Federal Register.<\/p>\n<p>The primary staff members on this matter are Michael Ostheimer and Michael Atleson in the FTC\u2019s Bureau of Consumer Protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Trade Commission today announced a final rule that will combat fake reviews and testimonials by prohibiting their sale or purchase and allow the agency to seek civil penalties against knowing violators. Image \u201cFake reviews not only waste people\u2019s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/badge-explore-data-fraud1.jpg?fit=600%2C375&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-2xW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6656,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-to-hold-informal-hearing-on-proposed-rule-banning-fake-reviews-and-testimonials\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":0},"title":"FTC to Hold Informal Hearing on Proposed Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials","author":"mkatz","date":"January 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Trade Commission will hold an informal hearing on its proposed rule banning fake reviews and testimonials at 10 a.m. ET on February 13, 2024. During the hearing, which will be open to the public and available via webcast, three interested parties will provide oral statements addressing issues raised\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7026,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-issues-notice-regarding-consumer-reviews-and-testimonials-informal-hearing\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":1},"title":"FTC Issues Notice Regarding Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Informal Hearing","author":"mkatz","date":"February 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On January 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission published a notice in the Federal Register containing the initial and final notice of an informal hearing on February 13, 2024, regarding the Proposed Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. During the hearing, which will be open to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10173,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-announces-tentative-agenda-for-september-19-open-commission-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":2},"title":"FTC Announces Tentative Agenda for September 19 Open Commission Meeting","author":"jhenderson2","date":"September 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan announced that an open meeting of the Commission will be held virtually on Thursday, September 19, 2024. The open meeting will commence at 11 a.m. ET and will begin with time for members of the public to address the Commission.The following items\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11385,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-approves-final-order-against-rytr-seller-of-an-ai-testimonial-review-service-for-providing-subscribers-with-means-to-generate-false-and-deceptive-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":3},"title":"FTC Approves Final Order against Rytr, Seller of an AI \u201cTestimonial &amp; Review\u201d Service, for Providing Subscribers with Means to Generate False and Deceptive Reviews","author":"mkatz","date":"December 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order against Rytr, settling allegations that it sold an AI \u201cTestimonial & Review\u201d service that provided subscribers with the means of generating false and deceptive online reviews.The FTC\u2019s\u00a0September 2024 complaint alleges Rytr\u2019s service generated detailed reviews that contained specific, often material\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11378,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-order-against-ai-enabled-review-platform-sitejabber-will-ensure-consumers-get-truthful-and-accurate-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":4},"title":"FTC Order Against AI-Enabled Review Platform Sitejabber Will Ensure Consumers Get Truthful and Accurate Reviews","author":"mkatz","date":"November 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Trade Commission today charged that Sitejabber, a company offering an AI-enabled consumer review platform, deceived consumers by misrepresenting that ratings and reviews it published came from customers who experienced the reviewed product or service, artificially inflating average ratings and review counts.Under a\u00a0proposed order settling the agency\u2019s complaint, Sitejabber\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Seal_of_the_United_States_Federal_Trade_Commission.svg_.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9453,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ftc-acts-to-stop-debt-relief-scheme-targeting-spanish-speaking-student-loan-borrowers\/","url_meta":{"origin":9792,"position":5},"title":"FTC Acts to Stop Debt Relief Scheme Targeting  Spanish-Speaking Student Loan Borrowers","author":"ndrayton","date":"July 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Federal Trade Commission has stopped the operators of a scheme that it says tricked financially strapped\u00a0consumers seeking student loan relief into paying hundreds of dollars in junk fees. The operators often targeted Spanish-speaking consumers in Puerto Rico, pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education and its loan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2022.08.19-usasdr-instagram-testimonial-ana-rojas.png?fit=938%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2022.08.19-usasdr-instagram-testimonial-ana-rojas.png?fit=938%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2022.08.19-usasdr-instagram-testimonial-ana-rojas.png?fit=938%2C601&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2022.08.19-usasdr-instagram-testimonial-ana-rojas.png?fit=938%2C601&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9794,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9792\/revisions\/9794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}