Government outlines plan to make fake online reviews illegal

Fake reviews are estimated to influence nearly £23 billion of purchases in the UK every year

Writing or hosting fake online reviews could become illegal, under a new government plan that aims to crack down on companies deliberately cheating consumers.

The proposal is part of a consultation on reforming consumer policy in the UK, giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more powers to tackle bad business practices.

Under the new law, companies offering subscriptions would be asked to reveal exactly what a customer signs up for, while also enabling them to cancel their orders easily.

Companies would also be required to protect customers' money in prepayment schemes like Christmas savings clubs, where customers choose Christmas vouchers in advance and then make regular payments over the course of the year to purchase items.

The government also wants to make it an offence to pay an individual or company to write or host a bogus review.

The CMA estimates fake reviews influence about £23 billion of purchases in the UK every year.

In 2019, over a quarter of British retailers encountered positive bogus reviews by their rivals or negative reviews on themselves.

For the home improvement and used car sectors, the Government is proposing to make it mandatory for companies to take part in mediation or arbitration where disputes arise over a transaction.

The new guideliness would give the CMA the power to impose tougher penalties, such as fines of up to 10 per cent of a firm's global turnover. It would also be able to block 'killer' deals - where big firms acquire potential rivals before they launch new products or services.

Consumer group Which? welcomed the plan, and said it should be implemented as soon as possible.

"The pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in UK consumer protections that have allowed unscrupulous businesses to exploit customers, while our competition regime has been in need of an update to deal with the challenges of digital markets," Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy, said.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng noted that the new consumer laws would give "businesses confidence that they're competing on fair terms," while the public would have the confidence that "they're getting a good deal".

Kwarteng added that, to speed up the process, the CMA would get appropriate powers to enforce consumer law directly, rather than having to go through a court process that can take several months or years.

Earlier this month, a new landmark law came into force in the UK giving British consumers the right to repair their electrical and electronic appliances more easily.

The law makes it mandatory for manufacturers to make spare parts of their products available to both consumers and third-party repair firms.

With the new rules, the government expects the lifespan of products to extend by up to 10 years.