WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission announced today a final rule that will ban fake reviews and testimonials, prohibiting the use of deceptive practices, such as AI-generated reviews, censoring honest negative reviews and compensating third parties for positive reviews. The ruling will also allow the agency to seek civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation against knowing offenders.
Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at CR and a former policy director of FTC’s Office of Technology, Research, and Investigation said, “The unanimous, bipartisan vote today by the FTC is a big win for consumers trying to navigate the digital marketplace. Holding companies and influencers accountable for fake reviews and testimonials that appear alongside their products and services will help remove fraud from the marketplace and provide consumers with more reliable, trustworthy information when making purchasing decisions.”
Consumer Reports submitted comments responsive to the FTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on this matter in 2023.
Contact: Cyrus Rassool, cyrus.rassool@consumer.org