Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Online shopping.
Online shopping. - Credit: Valentyn_Volkov / DepositPhotos - License: DepositPhotos
Business
online shopping
online reviews
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate
Stef Blok
legislative proposal
EU
ACM
Thursday, 14 October 2021 - 15:00
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Netherlands to ban fake online reviews

The Cabinet plans to ban fake consumer reviews at online stores and -platforms from next year, according to a legislative proposal submitted by Minister Stef Blok of Economic Affairs. The aim is to implement the bill by the end of May 2022, as per a European directive, to offer consumers the same protection everywhere in the European Union.

According to the bill, online merchants will have to authenticate consumer reviews before they are posted, including checking that the consumer posting the review is a genuine individual who actually bought the product. The bill also bans paying someone else to post fake reviews.

Online stores will also have to inform consumers whether they're receiving a personalized price offer, for example, because an algorithm kept track of what they bought in the past or which websites they visited. And it will be illegal to display search results without making clear that it is paid advertising or that payment was made to get a higher placement. Online stores must also clarify who is responsible for the delivery and handling of returns - the seller or the platform - so that consumers know who to contact if they have problems.

The new rules are the same in all EU Member States. Companies who do not comply with the new regulations can be fined in one or more EU Member States, amounting to at least 4 percent of the company's turnover in the country concerned.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Grants will definitely replace student loan system this year; Applications start soon
  • Drug criminals increasingly targeting truckers in the Netherlands: report
  • Netherlands can ban childlike sex dolls if they look younger than 12: Council of State
  • Amsterdam public transport money woes less severe than thought; staff shortages an issue
  • Two new explosions in Rotterdam brings this year’s total above 60
  • Amsterdam to cut down further on bed and breakfasts to fight housing shortage

Top stories

  • Grants will definitely replace student loan system this year; Applications start soon
  • Eurostar hopeful about keeping Amsterdam-London high speed train running
  • Joran van der Sloot appeals against Peru's plans to extradite him to U.S.
  • Every Netherlands resident affected by data leak: watchdog
  • Trains expected to run from 9 a.m. around Amsterdam, Utrecht & The Hague
  • Most Dutch businesses facing higher costs they can’t pass on despite rising debt levels

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content