UK Regulator Urges Facebook, eBay to Tackle Fake Review Marketplace

By Adria Calatayud

The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority has urged Facebook Inc. (FB) and eBay Inc. (EBAY) to prevent fake and misleading online reviews from being bought and sold on their platforms.

The competition watchdog said Friday that it isn't alleging that Facebook or eBay are intentionally allowing such content on their sites, but that it has found evidence of a thriving marketplace for false, deceptive reviews that are taken into consideration by more than three-quarters of U.K. internet users when choosing what to buy online.

The regulator said the evidence included more than 100 eBay listings and 26 Facebook groups where individuals offered to write fake reviews or businesses recruited people to write misleading reviews on popular sites.

A Facebook spokesperson said Friday that the company removed 24 of the 26 groups and pages that the CMA had flagged to the social-media group on Thursday, having already taking a number of them down prior to the regulator's notification.

"Fraudulent activity is not allowed on Facebook, including the trading of fake reviews," the Facebook spokesperson said.

The company has tripled the size of its safety and security team to 30,000 and is investing in technology to prevent the abuse of its platform, they added.

An eBay spokesperson said the company welcomes the report from the CMA and will work closely with the regulator in reviewing its findings.

"We have zero tolerance for fake or misleading reviews. Listings such as these are strictly against our policy on illegal activity and we will act where our rules are broken," the eBay spokesperson said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2019 08:17 ET (12:17 GMT)

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