Italy Moves to Clean Up Online Reviews with New Law

Italy's government has proposed a draft law to regulate online reviews for hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions to prevent fake or incentivized critiques. Reviewers will need to verify their identity and visit, and reviews can be removed if deemed false. The law aims to enhance fair competition and protect consumers.

Italy's government presented a draft law on Tuesday to bring stricter regulations to online reviews for hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions, intending to prevent fake or incentivized contributions. To achieve this, the proposed law requires parliamentary approval and will enforce identification and verification measures for reviewers.

Under the new regulations, reviews must be posted within two weeks of a visit, and they may be taken down if found to be untruthful or two years after posting. While the bill lacks clarity on who determines falsehoods, it explicitly bans paid or sponsored reviews, a practice common in the industry.

Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche highlighted the importance of this move for business protection, as fake reviews are already illegal but hard to police. The proposal suggests assigning Italy's antitrust watchdog to oversight duties. Some industry groups support the plan but express concerns over privacy and the potential reduction in anonymous reviews.

(With inputs from agencies.)