Italy Seeks to Curb 'fake' Online Reviews for Hotels and Restaurants

Italy Proposes New Law to Combat Fake Online Reviews for Tourism

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government on Tuesday unveiled a draft law to regulate online reviews of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions, in a bid to stop fake or paid reviewers.

The law, which needs parliamentary approval to come into force, introduces a number of hurdles for would-be reviewers, including having to provide verifiable ID as well as proof that they visited the place they want to pass judgement on.

Reviews will have to be posted within two weeks of the visit in question and can be removed if they are untrue or, in any case, two years after they were posted. The bill did not explain who would decide if a critique was false.

The proposed law, which can be amended in parliament, will also outlaw reviews that are paid-for or sponsored via incentives - an underhand practice that is fairly commonplace.

"Today marks an important step for the protection of our businesses," said Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche.

Fake reviews are already illegal, but policing violations is difficult. The bill suggests giving the task of checking on reviews and handing out eventual fines to Italy's antitrust watchdog.

The draft regulations were welcomed by some industry lobbies, although there were concerns over privacy and fears that the ban on anonymous reviews might 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 are also a problem for consumers who can be misled," Michele Carrus, chairman of consumer association Federconsumatori, told Reuters.

"The problem needed to be addressed. It's difficult to do it the right way, but I'm confident we can achieve that during the parliamentary debate," he added.

(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; Editing by Crispian Balmer)