The Italian government is trying to put a stop to misleading online reviews for hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions.
To this end, it presented a relevant draft law yesterday (15/1/2025), which will be submitted for approval by parliament.
The bill includes provisions for checking would-be reviewers, as it, among other things, requires the presentation of verifiable identity as well as evidence that reviewers have visited the place they are commenting on.
Reviews must be posted within two weeks of the visit and will be removed if they are untrue. In any case, the reviews will be “taken down” two years after their posting. It is proposed that the control of reviews and the imposition of sanctions be entrusted to Italy’s antitrust agency.
The proposed law, if passed as is, would also ban reviews that are paid for or funded through incentives.
“Today marks an important step in protecting our businesses,” said Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche.
The provisions of the bill were welcomed by some tourism and hospitality industry lobbies. However, there were also concerns about privacy and concerns that banning anonymous reviews could drastically reduce the number of online comments about hotels and restaurants.
“Fake reviews are a problem for fair competition between companies because they can have a big impact on sales, and they are also a problem for consumers who can be misled,” Michele Carrus, president of the Federconsumatori consumer association, told Reuters.
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