The Consumer Review Fairness Act, explained for online brands
The Consumer Review Fairness Act is a short federal law from 2016 with one job. It stops businesses from using their terms and conditions to silence customers. It matters to any brand that sells through online checkout, which is every direct-to-consumer health brand. We remove rule-breaking reviews the lawful way, through Trustpilot's own tool. You pay per removal.
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Short answer
The Consumer Review Fairness Act is a 2016 US law that protects a customer's ability to post honest reviews. It voids any term in a standard contract that bans or restricts reviews, charges a penalty or fee for one, or takes the customer's rights in what they wrote. Offering a contract with such a term is unlawful. The FTC and state attorneys general enforce it. The Act does not stop a business from pursuing defamation claims or from removing abusive or clearly false content from its own site.
Key facts
The Consumer Review Fairness Act is Public Law 114-258, enacted on December 14, 2016 and codified at 15 U.S.C. § 45b.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 45b: Consumer review protection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
It voids form-contract terms that prohibit or restrict customer reviews, impose a penalty or fee for a review, or transfer the customer's rights in the review content.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 45b: Consumer review protection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
Offering a form contract that contains such a term is unlawful.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 45b: Consumer review protection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
The Act covers written, oral and pictorial reviews, which includes online reviews, social media posts, photos and videos.
Source: Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know, Federal Trade Commission
The FTC and state attorneys general enforce the Act, and a violation is treated like a violation of an FTC rule.
Source: Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know, Federal Trade Commission
The Act does not apply to employment contracts or contracts with independent contractors.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 45b: Consumer review protection, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
What the Act covers
The Act is short. It sits at 15 U.S.C. § 45b and was enacted as Public Law 114-258 on December 14, 2016.
It protects a "covered communication". That is a written, oral or pictorial review, performance assessment or similar analysis of a business's goods, services or conduct. The FTC's guidance for businesses gives everyday examples: online reviews, social media posts, uploaded photos and videos. It also says the Act covers views on customer service, not only on products.
It applies to "form contracts". A form contract has standard terms, is used in selling or leasing goods or services, and is imposed without a real chance to negotiate. Website terms and conditions, checkout terms, subscription agreements and patient intake terms all fit that description.
The three terms it voids
A term in a form contract is void from the start if it does any of these:
- Prohibits or restricts a customer's ability to review the business.
- Imposes a penalty or fee on a customer for a review.
- Transfers intellectual property rights in the review to the business. A non-exclusive license to use the content is still allowed.
Offering a form contract with one of these terms is itself unlawful. The business does not need to enforce the term to be in breach. Calling the term an NDA or a confidentiality clause does not change that.
The FTC's guidance gives a plain example. A term that fines a customer for a negative review breaks the law.
What the Act still allows
The Act has limits, and they matter.
| Still allowed | Why |
|---|---|
| A defamation, libel or slander claim | The Act says it does not affect these claims |
| A duty of confidentiality that the law imposes | For example, legal or medical confidentiality |
| Removing certain content from your own website | Content that is libelous, harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar or sexually explicit |
| Removing content unrelated to your goods or services | The Act protects reviews of the business, not everything a customer posts |
| Removing content that is clearly false or misleading | The FTC notes that disagreeing with a review does not make it false |
| Terms about private information | Such as financial, medical or personnel file information and trade secrets |
The FTC's warning on the fifth row deserves attention. A business usually thinks a harsh review is false. The Act's exception is for content that is clearly false, not content the business disputes.
These exceptions are about your own site and your own contract. They give you no power over a third-party platform. On Trustpilot, a review goes offline only when Trustpilot agrees that it breaks one of its five flagging reasons.
Who enforces it
Congress gave enforcement to the FTC and to state attorneys general. A violation is treated the same as a violation of an FTC rule that defines an unfair or deceptive practice. That can mean financial penalties and a federal court order.
The Act took effect in stages. The rule that voids the terms applied from March 2017, and the enforcement sections applied from December 2017.
How it fits with the FTC's newer review rule
Two federal rules now cover reviews, and they do different jobs.
| Compared on | Consumer Review Fairness Act | FTC rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465 |
|---|---|---|
| In force since | 2017 | October 21, 2024 |
| Aimed at | Contract terms | Conduct |
| Bans | Gag clauses, review penalties, forced transfer of rights | Fake reviews, paid sentiment, insider reviews, suppression by threat or intimidation |
| Penalty | Treated as an FTC rule violation | Up to $53,088 per violation |
A brand can break both at once. A clause that fines customers for negative reviews breaks the Act. A letter that threatens to enforce it, with no real grounds, can break section 465.7 of the newer rule as well. Our guide to the FTC rule covers the second half.
A five-point check for a DTC health brand
- Read your checkout and subscription terms. Search for "review", "disparage", "defame", "social media" and "feedback". Non-disparagement wording copied from an employment contract often ends up in customer terms.
- Read your refund and cancellation terms. A refund that depends on removing or not posting a review is a penalty under the Act. The FTC also described this conduct in its NextMed case.
- Read your patient intake terms. Telehealth platforms sometimes bundle consent forms with platform terms. Medical confidentiality binds the provider. It is not a reason to restrict what the patient says.
- Check your influencer and affiliate agreements separately. Those are usually independent contractor agreements, which the Act excludes. They bring their own disclosure duties.
- Ask counsel to confirm. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Why this belongs on a review removal site
Because gag clauses are the oldest bad answer to a bad review, and some vendors still suggest them. The lawful answers are slower. Fix the cause. Reply well. Invite every customer. Flag the reviews that break the platform's rules. Our guide on whether review removal is legal sorts the methods, and the main Trustpilot review removal page explains the one we use.
If you want to know which of your Trustpilot reviews break Trustpilot's rules, request a free audit.
We do this work for clients through our Trustpilot review removal service, and the price per removed review is published.
Frequently asked questions
A US federal law, in force since 2017, that protects people's ability to share honest opinions about a business. It voids terms in standard contracts that ban reviews, fine customers for them or take ownership of them. Source: FTC guidance.
The Act does not remove anything. It limits what your contract can say. It does leave you free to take down, from your own site, content that is clearly false or misleading, defamatory, abusive or unrelated to your products. On Trustpilot, removal is Trustpilot's decision under its own guidelines.
It applies to your contract with your customer, wherever they post. A term in your checkout terms that bans negative Trustpilot reviews is void, and offering it is unlawful.
The Act keeps that right. It says nothing in it affects a claim for defamation, libel or slander. Whether you have a claim depends on state law. See can you sue over a bad review.
No. The statute excludes employment contracts and agreements with independent contractors from its definition of a form contract. Source: 15 U.S.C. § 45b.
A violation is treated as a violation of an FTC rule on unfair or deceptive practices, which can mean civil penalties and a federal court order. State attorneys general can also bring cases. Source: FTC guidance.
Primary sources used on this page
- 15 U.S.C. § 45b: Consumer review protection. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law SchoolLast verified
- Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know. Federal Trade CommissionLast verified
- For which reasons can businesses flag service reviews?. Trustpilot Help CenterLast verified
- FTC Publishes Inflation-Adjusted Civil Penalty Amounts for 2025. Federal Trade CommissionLast verified
- 16 CFR Part 465: Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. Electronic Code of Federal RegulationsLast verified
- FTC Takes Action Against Telemedicine Firm NextMed (July 14, 2025). Federal Trade CommissionLast verified