House to vote on bill protecting customers’ online reviews

The House is slated to vote Monday on advancing legislation that protects consumers who write negative online reviews of businesses.

Lawmakers will consider the Consumer Review Fairness Act under suspension of the rules, meaning that it requires a two-thirds majority to pass. The House vote comes after a version of the bill passed the Senate under a slightly different name in December.

{mosads}The bill blocks provisions in contracts that ban a consumer from writing a negative review of a business. It also makes it illegal for a company to penalize customers for their reviews.

The bill is backed by online review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, as well as public interest groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge.

“While most businesses understand that such reviews offer businesses and consumers alike the ability to learn and benefit from others’ experiences, a number of unscrupulous businesses have attempted to bully or intimidate their customers from sharing their negative experiences,” said TripAdvisor executive Adam Medros in an April statement.

House members will also consider a bill that will give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to pursue people who use technology to snap up large blocks of tickets for resale at a higher price. It cleared the Energy and Commerce Committee in June.

The vote will come a day before the Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing on the issue, featuring, among other witnesses, the producer of the popular musical “Hamilton.”