Screen online reviews for a fake, undisclosed or incentivised review
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the reviews and the business's policy, list reviews that share an email or IP address, use similar names or language, lack specific detail, or arrive in a short spike, and any incentive, staff or family connection, or editing of a negative review that the file shows. Do not decide that a review is fake or that it must be removed.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether the reviews breach the law and whether one may be removed. The ACCC says a business must not create fake or misleading reviews or arrange for others to do so. Signs the page names are a short spike of very positive or negative reviews, many reviews from the same email or IP address, similar reviewers' names, generic reviews without specific detail, and reviews in similar language. Reviews by family, employees, or people the business pays, without stating the connection, can mislead. Incentives for a review, such as a discount or a free gift, must be offered whether the review is positive or negative, and must be clearly disclosed. Suppressing or editing a genuine negative review can mislead, and the page says a business or platform should display its policy for publishing, editing and removing reviews. A business that knows, or should know, a review is fake and does not remove or correct it may be in breach, but it needs an adequate basis before it removes or edits a review, because removing a genuine negative review may itself mislead. An undisclosed commercial relationship with a review platform may mislead. The page's examples of past penalties are an infringement notice of $6,600 for Citymove, $600,000 for Service Seeking, and $2.9 million for HealthEngine. Those are past outcomes on the page, not a current penalty schedule.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the reviews and the business's policy, list reviews that share an email or IP address, use similar names or language, lack specific detail, or arrive in a short spike, and any incentive, staff or family connection, or editing of a negative review that the file shows. Do not decide that a review is fake or that it must be removed. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Record the connection and the incentive from the file. Do not infer that a positive review was paid for.
- Do not remove a negative review because it is negative. The page says a genuine negative review should not be removed.
- Do not quote the old penalty figures as the fine that applies now. The page reports past cases.
Sources
- ACCC, online reviews · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.