Fake review law in the United States, and what it means for your business

There is one structural catch worth knowing up front. A separate law shields platforms from liability for what their users post, so when a fake review hits you, you generally pursue the reviewer, not the platform, and a judgment against the reviewer is then what gets the content taken down.

Who enforces it, and the record

The FTC enforces the rule and can also win refunds for consumers, though only the FTC can bring a case under it, not a private individual. Its first enforcement step under the new rule came in December 2025 with warning letters to ten companies, and it has continued to bring related cases, including against a telehealth seller in 2025 for fake reviews alongside deceptive claims. Separately, a long-running line of major-retailer lawsuits has pursued the brokers who sell fake reviews, and a 2016 contract-law statute voids any small-print term that tries to gag or penalise honest customer reviews.

What it means for you, and the limit

The practical reading: buying reviews is now a federal risk that lands on you, and the cases that have actually been brought landed the penalty on the business, not on a faceless broker. If a competitor is faking, the rule gives you and state attorneys general a basis to act. The limit is the platform-immunity catch above, plus uneven enforcement, so the rule changes the incentives but rarely removes one fake review aimed at you overnight. The recourse page covers what to do in the moment.