Facebook and Ebay pledge to combat trading of fake reviews, says competition watchdog
The competition watchdog has announced that Facebook and Ebay have signed agreements committing to combat the sale of fake and misleading reviews on their platforms.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns about the trade of fake and misleading reviews on tech giants’ platforms last summer, and has been pressing them to crack down on the issue.
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Since then, Facebook removed 188 groups and disabled 24 accounts while Ebay has banned 140 users, according to the watchdog.
The CMA said the companies have pledged to put measures in place to “help prevent this type of content from appearing in the future”.
“Fake reviews are really damaging to shoppers and businesses alike,” said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli.
“We’re pleased that Facebook and Ebay are doing the right thing by committing to tackle this problem and helping to keep their sites free from posts selling fake reviews.”
The regulator said it had also found examples of the issue on Instagram, which owner Facebook has promised to investigate.
“Fraudulent activity is not allowed on Facebook or Instagram, including offering or trading fake reviews,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
“While we have invested heavily to prevent this kind of activity across our services, we know there is more work to do and are working with the CMA to address this issue,” they added.
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A spokesperson for Ebay said: “We maintain zero tolerance for fake or misleading reviews and will continue to take action against any seller that breaches our user policies.”
“We welcome today’s CMA report, as well as their acknowledgement of our ongoing enforcement work on this issue.”