Amazon is in danger! Some countries have told e-commerce platforms to be responsible for fake reviews

Fake reviews have become a headache for consumers around the world and an important factor affecting buyers' trust in sellers and platforms.

In order to crack down on fake reviews, the British government informed Amazon and other e-commerce platforms yesterday ( January 24th, UK time) that fake reviews will soon be included in the list of prohibited practices, and new guidelines will be finalized in the next few months.

E-commerce platforms will be held accountable for fake product ratings and user reviews of products posted on their websites as part of the government's efforts to improve consumers' online shopping experience.

Chat groups on social channels calling for fake reviews on platforms such as Amazon and Trustpilot remain active despite repeated interventions by the Competition and Markets Authority last year .

How active is it? Analysts estimate that one in seven comments in the UK may be a "fake comment".

Against this backdrop, the British government has been forced to intervene in this behavior, but the government has not currently made posting false reviews a criminal offense .

The British government has not specified the penalties for platforms that fail to deal with fake reviews in a timely manner . Some media speculate that the government may announce more details later this year.

In fact, fake reviews are not only a headache for consumers, but have also been a problem for major e-commerce platforms.

Take Amazon as an example. In 2022 alone, Amazon discovered as many as 23,000 social media chat groups involved in planning and posting false reviews, with more than 46 million members and followers in these chat groups.

In order to combat fake reviews, Amazon has also invested a lot of resources and manpower, such as artificial intelligence and expert investigators. Through various measures, Amazon blocks more than 200 million fake reviews from its platform each year.

In addition, last year Amazon teamed up with Booking.com, Expedia Group, Glassdoor, TripAdvisor and TrustPilot to form a global trusted review alliance to protect consumers around the world from being deceived by false reviews.

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