Italy seeks to protect restaurants and hotels from fake and paid-for reviews
The Italian government is seeking to clamp down on fake and paid-for online reviews in an effort to protect the country’s hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions from misleading and damaging content.
Under a draft law announced this week, which still needs to be approved in parliament, anyone wanting to write an online review would be required to provide verifiable ID and proof that they visited the place in question.
According to the draft law, reviews will have to be posted within 15 days of the visit and must be relevant and detailed. If false, they can be removed at the request of the business in question.
In addition, businesses will be able to seek the removal of reviews that are more than two years old if they are no longer relevant. Reviews that are paid-for or sponsored via incentives will also be illegal.
It is unclear who will decide whether or not a review is fake, but the responsibility of checking the appraisals and handing out eventual fines will be given to Italy’s anti-trust watchdog.
