BT-REQ-1940 Consumer Holiday Guide 2023 v9 BH - Flipbook - Page 14
Fake reviews and how to
avoid Santa’s naughty list
Valerie Kenyon
Vicki Kooner
Olivier Swain
Partner
London
Associate
London
Senior Associate
London
When it comes to the holiday season, online shopping is
an obvious choice. Armed with the insights provided by
consumer reviews, purchasing the perfect gift is only a click
away. But what happens when consumer reviews become a
target for abuse? Less holiday cheer, and more holiday fear:
customer trust and brand reputations are suddenly at risk.
Fake reviews are in focus for regulators
and legislators around the world. There
is increasing regulatory and legislative
pressure on platforms that host fake
reviews, as well as the businesses who
manipulate and sell them.
The UK has been behind the curve
in terms of consumer protection law
in this area. That, however, is set to
change, with the UK government
recently announcing a clampdown on
fake reviews, following investigations
by the Competition Markets Authority.
The government proposes to add
practices relating to fake reviews to
the “blacklist” of automatically unfair
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Retail and Fashion Holiday Guide 2023
commercial practices under the Digital
Markets, Competition and Consumers
Bill (announced earlier this year). If it
does so, actions including submitting
or facilitating fake reviews, as well as
hosting consumer reviews without
昀椀rst checking they are genuine, will
be treated as an automatic breach of
the relevant law. In turn, the relevant
regulator, the Competition Markets
Authority (“CMA”), will be able to take
enforcement action directly (as opposed
to the current state of play which
requires action through the courts).
Notably, the CMA’s heightened powers
include the ability to impose penalties
of up to 10% of global turnover.
