united-kingdom contract-law internet sale-of-goods
Manipulating product reviews
<p>I obtained a product from an online vendor. At the time it had a 5-star rating, with three reviews praising what was an entirely different product.</p>
<p>The product wasn't very good, and I wrote a review with a 1-star rating, and asked a general question of the 'world at large' (other purchasers).</p>
<p>I was notified when my question was answered and returned to the site. The original off-topic reviews had gone, and there were several more bad reviews. But a few minutes later I refreshed the page, and the reviews and ratings have been taken down.</p>
<p>Is it legal for the site hosting agent to manipulate the truth in this way? Are they misrepresenting the product by doing so?</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/australia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" rel="tag">australia</a></p>
<h2>This is <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-promoting-your-business/managing-online-reviews" rel="nofollow noreferrer">illegal</a> misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Businesses and review platforms that selectively remove or edit reviews, particularly negative reviews, for commercial or promotional reasons may be misleading consumers. If the total body of reviews doesn’t reflect the opinions of consumers who have submitted the reviews consumers may be misled.</p>
<p>Content moderation policies of review platforms ensure users and businesses have a clear understanding of when and why online consumer reviews will be removed. It is recommended that consumer review platforms make their policy for publishing and removing consumer content accessible to platform users.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>According to <a href="https://www.theukrules.co.uk/rules/media/website/fake-reviews.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Are Fake Online Reviews Illegal or Not?&quot;</a></p>
<p>Posting o paying for &quot;fake&quot;  reviews is illegal.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the practice of writing fake reviews (also called 'astroturfing') is illegal in the United Kingdom. The law falls under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. This particular directive prohibits the undertaking of unfair commercial ‎practices in Britain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The site defines a &quot;fake&quot;  review as one where the person writing or posting the review has not in fact used the product or service being reviewed, has a close connection to the business which is not disclosed, receives a financial or other benefit for the review, or the review does not in fact represent the author's real opinion of the product or service for whatever reason.</p>
<p>The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) publishes a &quot;guidance&quot; <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-reviews-and-endorsements-advice-for-businesses/online-reviews-giving-consumers-the-full-picture" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Online reviews: letting your customers see the true picture&quot;</a>. This guidance instructs traders not to create or use fake reviews, and specifically states:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Don’t pretend to be a customer and write reviews about your products or other businesses’ products</li>
<li>Don’t commission third parties to write fake reviews – you may be liable for their actions</li>
<li>If you are working with a third party – such as a PR, marketing or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agency – make sure they also follow these rules</li>
<li>Don’t offer inducements – money or gifts – to customers to write positive reviews about your business</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>It does <strong>not</strong> however, say anything about deleting or hiding negative reviews.</p>
<p>Changes in these rules were discussed in the April 2022 Reuters news story <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-rolls-out-new-rules-battle-fake-reviews-anti-competitive-practices-2022-04-20/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;UK rolls out new rules to battle fake reviews, anti-competitive practices&quot;</a> which mentioned increased authority of the CMA to levy fines for such actions s writing and posting fake reviews.</p>
<p>The 24 April 2022  BBC News story <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60252909" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;'My negative online review was blocked'&quot;</a> discusses this issue.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The UK recently proposed rules that would make writing and commissioning fake reviews illegal.</p>
<p>But while much of the attention has focused on the problem of fake reviews, experts say sellers are distorting customer perception in other ways as well, using practices like displaying reviews to their advantage, selectively soliciting comments - and in extreme cases, supressing bad feedback altogether.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>&quot;Many companies start with an honest agenda, which is to remove fake negative reviews… but when they do it, it becomes a slippery slope,&quot; says Prof Bin Gu of Boston University's Questrom School of Business. &quot;It's very hard to know when to stop.&quot;</p>
<p>In January, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $4.2m settlement with fast fashion clothier Fashion Nova over charges it had blocked hundreds of thousands of poor customer reviews between 2015 and 2019.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>The deal marked the first case to crack down on a firm for hiding bad reviews.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I cannot find any law or regulation specifically making the practice of deleting bad reviews illegal under UK law. But it might be treated as an unfair and misleading practice.</p>
