Abstract:

E-commerce platforms have the legal or agreed rights to remove consumer reviews under specific circumstances. If they remove a review unrelated to goods or services, then they must first determine if it reflects a consumption experience; if the review is related to goods or services, then they must explain their reasoning. E-commerce platforms should remove obviously illegal reviews, but they cannot remove legitimate reviews without authorization. Removal authority should be limited by established, good faith standards. E-commerce platforms should remove infringing and adverse reviews, but only if the “notice and takedown” rules are followed. More practitioners and scholars should focus on the use of the “transfer notice” rules meant to protect consumers' freedom of speech to the maximum extent.

Key words: Consumer review, Platform operator, Remove review, Freedom of speech, Limit standard