Fake reviews about an online store. When and on what legal basis can their removal be demanded?
Most purchasing decisions in e-commerce are made based on ratings and reviews published online. This phenomenon means that artificially generated, harmful, or untrue comments pose a direct threat to the revenues and reputation of an e-store. In market practice, entrepreneurs often deal not only with emotional posts from dissatisfied customers, but also with organized hate, unfair competition practices, and bots generating fictitious reviews. The Polish and EU legal systems provide online store owners with specific tools to combat illegal posts. However, the key to effectively removing a harmful comment lies in precisely distinguishing permissible, subjective criticism from illegal speech that constitutes an infringement of the law.
The boundary between permissible criticism and illegal speech
A consumer has every right to express a negative opinion about the course of a transaction, the quality of service, or product features. The legal protection of a store does not aim to suppress justified criticism. However, the removal of a comment can be effectively demanded in situations where the post exceeds the boundaries of freedom of expression and meets the criteria of illegality. Grounds justifying a demand for review removal include, in particular:
Factual falsehood: describing events or circumstances that did not actually take place (e.g., alleging non-delivery of goods when the package was collected, or posting a review by a person who never made a purchase in the given store).
Infringement of the entrepreneur's personal rights: using abusive language, profanity, insulting store personnel, or groundlessly accusing them of committing a crime (e.g., publicly alleging fraud without any evidence).
Act of unfair competition: publishing reviews by competing entities or paid intermediaries in order to depreciate the store's market position.
Legal basis for demanding the removal of an illegal post
An entrepreneur asserting their rights has several coherent legal instruments at their disposal:
Protection of personal rights (Articles 23 and 24 of the Civil Code): reputation, good name, and market image constitute the personal rights of a legal entity or a natural person conducting business activity. On this basis, one can demand the cessation of actions (removal of the post), as well as the publication of an apology or payment of compensation.
Act on Combating Unfair Competition: disseminating false or misleading information about an enterprise to cause damage constitutes an act of unfair competition.
Digital Services Act (DSA) and Notice and Action procedure: EU regulation has normalized the obligations of intermediary service providers (e.g., Google, social networks, marketplace platforms). Upon receiving an official, reasoned notification regarding the illegal nature of content (notice and action procedure), the platform administrator is obliged to immediately block or remove the comment under pain of losing their legal liability exemption.
Obligations under the Omnibus Directive: entrepreneurs publishing reviews on their own websites are required to verify whether the reviews originate from real consumers. Posting or commissioning fake reviews constitutes a prohibited unfair market practice.
Step by step – how to effectively carry out the review removal procedure?
Effective removal of an illegal post requires a formal and meticulous procedural approach:
1. Securing evidence: taking screenshots that include the full text of the review, publication date, profile name, and exact URL address.
2. Verification in the sales system: checking the order database to see if the author of the comment appears as a customer of the store.
3. Submitting a formal notification (Notice and Action): addressing a reasoned request to the portal administrator (e.g., Google, Facebook, Ceneo, Allegro) to remove the content by demonstrating its illegality and infringement of personal rights.
4. Pre-litigation demand to the author of the post: if the perpetrator's identity is known, issuing an official demand to cease infringements under threat of taking legal action.
5. Initiating court proceedings: in the absence of a reaction from the administrator or the lack of possibility for an amicable dispute resolution – filing a lawsuit for the protection of personal rights along with a motion for interim relief (removal of the post for the duration of the trial).
E-commerce reputation protection with Rulity Consulting
Legal image protection online requires swift action and knowledge of the legal realities of digital platforms. The Rulity Consulting team supports online store owners and e-commerce management in fighting unfair hate and black PR. We draft formal notifications under the Notice and Action procedure, prepare pre-litigation demands, represent entrepreneurs in disputes with platform administrators, and help implement review verification procedures compliant with the Omnibus Directive. Consult your case with our experts and effectively protect the image of your business.
Removing fake reviews – Frequently Asked Questions
What to do when the author of a fake review is anonymous or uses a pseudonym?
In the absence of the ability to identify the author, the platform provider (e.g., Google, Facebook) where the comment was published becomes the primary addressee of the claims. Sending a formal notification under the Notice and Action procedure places an obligation on the administrator to remove the post. If the website avoids cooperation, it is possible to file a motion with the court to order the service provider to disclose the IP number and data allowing for the identification of the perpetrator.
Is an external platform financially liable for failing to remove a fake review?
The platform provider enjoys an exemption from liability as long as they do not have credible knowledge of the illegal nature of the data. From the moment an official, precisely reasoned notification of law infringement is delivered to them, a lack of reaction and further maintaining the post cause the portal to lose its status as a neutral intermediary and it may bear co-responsibility for the infringement of the entrepreneur's personal rights.
Can I legally remove negative, but true reviews from my own store?
Removing genuine, critical customer reviews from your own service while leaving exclusively positive ratings constitutes a violation of the provisions of the Omnibus Directive and the Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices. Such actions may be recognized by the UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) as a practice misleading consumers, which carries the risk of high financial penalties.