FTC bans fake online reviews, inflated social media influence; rule takes effect in October

• The Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to ban marketers from using fake reviews, such as those generated with AI technology, and other misleading advertising practices.
• The ban also forbids marketers from exaggerating their own influence by, for example, paying for bots to inflate their follower count.
• With the concurrent rise of e-commerce, influencer marketing and generative AI, more advertisers are turning to automated chatbots such as ChatGPT to quickly generate user reviews for products sold online.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to ban marketers from using fake reviews, such as those generated with AI technology, and other misleading practices to promote their products and services.

All five FTC commissioners voted to adopt the final rule, which will go into effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, the government's official catalog of rules and notices.

Typically, rules are published within days of their adoption, meaning that consumers can expect to see the FTC's fake-review ban go into effect starting in mid-October.

"Fake reviews not only waste people's time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.

Along with prohibiting reviews written by nonhumans, the FTC's rule also forbids companies from paying for either positive or negative reviews to falsely boost or denigrate a product. It also forbids marketers from exaggerating their own influence by, for example, paying for bots to inflate their follower count.

Violations of the rule could result in fines being issued for each violation, according to the rule. This means that for an e-commerce site with hundreds of