TripAdvisor could be in hot water with federal regulators over its decision to delete negative reviews on its site, according to news in USA Today on Wednesday, November 22.
Following an investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may launch a probe into TripAdvisor over claims the site deleted negative travel reviews for destinations where injuries, rapes, deaths and other dangerous activity occurred.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) reportedly received a letter by the FTC last week confirming that the Commission is looking into the matter, after Baldwin called for such action.
“The Commission has a strong interest in protecting consumer confidence in the online marketplace, including the robust online market for hotel and travel,” said FTC Acting Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen in the letter. “When consumers are unable to post honest reviews about a business, it can harm other consumers whose abilities to make well-informed purchase decisions are hindered and harm businesses that work hard to earn positive reviews.”
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