InfoBytes Blog
FTC issues final order in FTC Act violations matter
On March 21, the FTC announced a final order resolving allegations that an online fashion retailer (defendant) allegedly violated the FTC Act by engaging in deceptive practices. As previously covered by InfoBytes, according to the complaint, the defendant allegedly violated the FTC Act by, among other things, misrepresenting that the product reviews on its website reflected the views of all purchasers who submitted reviews, when it actually suppressed certain negative reviews. The complaint further noted that the defendant utilized a third-party review management software to automatically post higher-rating reviews to its website, while withholding other lower-rating reviews for the defendant’s approval prior to posting—which never took place. According to the final order, the defendant is: (i) required to pay $4.2 million as monetary relief to the FTC; (ii) prohibited from misrepresenting information about product reviews; and (iii) required to publicly display all product reviews on its website.