There is a school of thought that one should “fake it until you make it”. Misapplied creativity will unfortunately result in even more ways in which fake reviews will be manifested.
As many as 30 per cent to 40 per cent of online reviews are completely fake or otherwise not genuine, according to the consumer advocacy group US PIRG. Customers have “no way of knowing for certain which reviews are legitimate”, it told the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year.
For this reason, the FTC is looking to ban fake reviews and testimonials and fine those who write them. Offenders face fines of up to US$50,000 for each fake review – with penalties applied every time a consumer sees the fraudulent content.
Likewise, the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has codes that consider fake reviews as deceptive and will demand its removal – more egregious cases may be referred for more severe action. The ASA now also employs artificial intelligence in its Active Ad Monitoring system to weed out online offenders.
In Singapore, engaging in fake reviews is an unfair trade practice under the CPFTA, for which right of action is available to consumers as well as the CCCS.
LINE BETWEEN WRONG AND RIGHT
However, before we get to apply the letter (or hammer) of the law, we need to talk about trust.
Trust is not just drawing a line between criminal activity such as scams and fraud and non-criminal activity. Even unethical and dishonest but not necessarily illegal practices are frowned upon. An influencer who is found to have inflated his social media score by purchasing followers loses his reputation quickly despite all his other hard-earned efforts to build a following.