Consumer Information: Disinformation

(asked on 25th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure consumers are protected against misinformation online, including fake and misleading reviews.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 5th March 2021

The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unfair behaviours. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibits fake and misleading reviews online. Alleged breaches of the CPRs should be sent in the first instance to the Citizens Advice consumer service, www.citizensadvice.org.uk/, who will refer on cases to trading standards for appropriate enforcement action.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued guidance to consumers on avoiding fake reviews which can be found at: https://www.asa.org.uk/news/avoiding-fake-views-a-guide-to-testimonials-and-endorsements.html.

Furthermore, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into online reviews displayed on several major websites in May 2020. The CMA will investigate, among other things, whether the traders responsible for the websites are taking sufficient measures to remove fake and misleading reviews. Details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-reviews.

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