Key points

• The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule has applied since late 2024. It prohibits fake and AI-generated reviews, undisclosed insider reviews, review suppression and the sale of fake social media indicators.
• In the United Kingdom, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans fake reviews and requires reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove them. The ban took effect in April 2025 and the CMA can fine up to 10 percent of global turnover.
• Marketplaces and platforms that host reviews have specific exposure, particularly if they know or should know that reviews are fake, or if they hold incentives or moderation practices that skew ratings.
• Compensated reviews are not banned but must be disclosed clearly, and incentives conditioned on positive sentiment are prohibited.
• A documented moderation program, with detection, takedown and seller sanctions, is the best evidence of reasonable steps.

Why reviews are an enforcement priority

Reviews influence a large share of online purchasing decisions, and regulators see them as a core part of the information consumers rely on. Both the FTC and the CMA have said that fake reviews undermine competition between honest businesses. The result is a pair of modern, explicit regimes that give regulators clearer tools than general deception law.

United States: the FTC rule

The FTC finalized its Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule in 2024. It is a trade regulation rule, which means that violations can result in civil penalties per violation. Its main prohibitions are:

• Writing, selling or buying fake or false consumer reviews or testimonials, including those generated by AI or that misrepresent the reviewer's experience.
• Providing compensation or incentives conditioned on the review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative.
• Undisclosed reviews or testimonials written by insiders, such as employees or relatives, where a material connection exists.
• Company-controlled review websites that misrepresent their independence.
• Review suppression, where a business uses threats, intimidation or false claims to stop negative reviews, or removes them for reasons other than those permitted.
• Buying or selling fake indicators of social media influence for commercial purposes.

The rule applies to businesses that publish or solicit reviews, and the FTC has been explicit that it will pursue knowledge-based violations. It does not make platforms liable for third-party reviews merely because they host them, and Section 230 principles remain relevant, but a platform that knows reviews are fake and leaves them in place, or that helps procure them, is exposed. The FTC has also issued warning letters and brought cases involving review gating and incentives.

United Kingdom: the DMCC Act

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 added fake reviews to the list of banned commercial practices. It prohibits submitting or commissioning fake reviews, and publishing reviews without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to check that they are genuine. It also bans offering or arranging incentives without disclosure. The CMA has published guidance explaining what steps it expects, and has opened investigations into major online platforms regarding the treatment of reviews. Because the CMA can now decide infringements itself rather than going to court, the speed and scale of enforcement have changed.

A compliance checklist for marketplaces

• Policy. Publish clear review standards and make sure that sellers agree to them. State that fake reviews, review swaps and paid reviews without disclosure are prohibited.
• Detection. Use automated and manual methods to spot suspicious patterns, such as bursts of ratings, repeated text, coordinated accounts and reviews from unverified purchasers.
• Verification. Label verified purchases consistently, and ensure that the label means what it says.
• Incentives. Where incentives are allowed, require disclosure beside the review, and do not allow terms that reward positive sentiment.
• Takedown and sanctions. Maintain a process to remove fake reviews quickly, suspend or terminate sellers who buy them, and report serious cases to authorities.
• Moderation fairness. Apply rules for removing reviews even-handedly, and record the reason for each removal so that suppression allegations can be answered.
• Influencers and affiliates. Require disclosure of material connections, and audit compliance.
• Records. Keep logs of detection rules, takedowns and enforcement actions, which are the main evidence of reasonable steps.

AI and the next phase

Generative AI makes fake reviews cheaper to produce and harder to detect, and both regulators have said they will pursue them. Platforms should assume that bad actors will use these tools, and update detection accordingly. Equally, businesses should be careful about using AI to draft or summarize reviews, as summaries that misrepresent the underlying sentiment can themselves be misleading.

A periodic privileged review of moderation practices, ideally led by legal with input from trust and safety, product and marketing teams, will identify gaps before a regulator does. We also recommend a plan for responding to inquiries, since requests for information from the FTC or CMA tend to arrive with short deadlines.