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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5560
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5281
Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW
Introduced by:
(GL)
AN ACT PROHIBITING CERTAIN CONDUCT CONCERNING REVIEWS
OF BUSINESSES, CONSUMER GOODS AND CONSUMER SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) For the purposes of this 1
section and sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Business" means a person who offers or sells a consumer good or 3
consumer service to a consumer; 4
(2) "Celebrity testimonial" (A) means an advertising or promotional 5
message that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, 6
beliefs or experiences of a well-known individual who has purchased, 7
used or otherwise had experience with a business, consumer good or 8
consumer service, and (B) includes, but is not limited to, (i) an oral 9
statement or demonstration by, or purportedly by, a well-known 10
individual, or (ii) a depiction of the name, signature, likeness or other 11
identifying personal characteristics of a well-known individual; 12
(3) "Consumer" means an individual who is physically present in this 13
state and a prospective purchaser or user of consumer goods or 14
consumer services; 15
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(4) "Consumer good" means an article that is purchased or used 16
primarily for personal, family or household purposes; 17
(5) "Consumer review" (A) means an individual's or purported 18
individual's evaluation of a business, consumer good or consumer 19
service that is (i) submitted by the individual or purported individual, 20
and (ii) published on an Internet web site or online technology platform 21
that is dedicated, in whole or in part, to receiving and publishing such 22
evaluations, and (B) includes, but is not limited to, an individual's or 23
purported individual's rating of a business, consumer good or consumer 24
service regardless of whether such rating includes any text or narrative; 25
(6) "Consumer service" means a service that is purchased or used 26
primarily for personal, family or household purposes; 27
(7) "Consumer testimonial" (A) means an advertising or promotional 28
message that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, 29
beliefs or experiences of an individual who has purchased, used or 30
otherwise had experience with a business, consumer good or consumer 31
service, and (B) includes, but is not limited to, an oral statement or 32
demonstration by, or a depiction of the name, signature, likeness or 33
other identifying personal characteristics of, an individual; 34
(8) "Immediate relative" means an individual's spouse, parent, child 35
or sibling; 36
(9) "Indicator of social media influence" (A) means a metric that is 37
used by the public to assess an individual's influence on a social media 38
platform, and (B) includes, but is not limited to, metrics concerning an 39
individual's followers, friends, connections, subscribers, views, plays, 40
likes, saves, shares, reposts or comments on a social media platform; 41
(10) "Manager" means an employee of a business who (A) supervises 42
other employees or agents of the business, and (B) holds the title 43
"manager" or otherwise serves in a managerial role; 44
(11) "Officer" includes an owner, an executive or a managing member 45
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of a business; 46
(12) "Person" means an individual, association, corporation, limited 47
liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity; 48
(13) "Purchase" means to provide anything of value, including, but 49
not limited to, any money, gift certificate, consumer good, consumer 50
service, discount, coupon, contest entry, consumer review, consumer 51
testimonial or celebrity testimonial, in exchange for anything else of 52
value; 53
(14) "Reviewer" means the individual who writes, or purportedly 54
writes, a consumer review; 55
(15) "Social media platform" means a public or semi-public Internet-56
based service or application that (A) is used by a consumer, (B) is 57
primarily intended to connect users of, and allow users to socially 58
interact within, such service or application, and (C) enables a user to (i) 59
construct a public or semi-public profile for the purposes of signing into 60
and using such service or application, (ii) populate a public list of other 61
users with whom the user shares a social connection within such service 62
or application, and (iii) create or post content that is viewable by other 63
users, including, but not limited to, on message boards, in chat rooms, 64
or through a landing page or main feed that presents the user with 65
content generated by other users; and 66
(16) "Testimonialist" means the individual who gives, or purportedly 67
gives, a consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial. 68
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) It shall be an unfair or 69
deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the 70
general statutes for a business to: 71
(1) Write, give or sell a consumer review, consumer testimonial or 72
celebrity testimonial that materially misrepresents, expressly or 73
implicitly, (A) that the reviewer or testimonialist who purportedly 74
wrote or gave the consumer review, consumer testimonial or celebrity 75
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testimonial exists, (B) that the reviewer or testimonialist purchased, 76
used or otherwise had experience with the business, consumer good or 77
consumer service that is the subject of the consumer review, consumer 78
testimonial or celebrity testimonial, or (C) the reviewer's or 79
testimonialist's experience with the business, consumer good or 80
consumer service that is the subject of the consumer review, consumer 81
testimonial or celebrity testimonial; 82
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this 83
section, purchase a consumer review, or disseminate or cause the 84
dissemination of a consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial, if (A) 85
the consumer review, consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial 86
concerns the business or any consumer good or consumer service sold 87
by the business, and (B) the business knows, or reasonably should 88
know, that the consumer review, consumer testimonial or celebrity 89
testimonial materially misrepresents, expressly or implicitly, (i) that the 90
reviewer or testimonialist who purportedly wrote or gave the consumer 91
review, consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial exists, (ii) that the 92
reviewer or testimonialist used, or otherwise had experience with, the 93
business, consumer good or consumer service that is the subject of the 94
consumer review, consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial, or (iii) 95
the reviewer's or testimonialist's experience with the business, 96
consumer good or consumer service that is the subject of the consumer 97
review, consumer testimonial or celebrity testimonial; 98
(3) Except as provided in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this 99
section, procure a consumer review from an officer, manager, employee 100
or agent of the business, or from an immediate relative of an officer, 101
manager, employee or agent of the business, for the purpose of 102
publishing the consumer review on a third party's Internet web site or 103
online technology platform if (A) the consumer review concerns the 104
business or any consumer good or consumer service sold by the 105
business, and (B) the business knows, or reasonably should know, that 106
the consumer review materially misrepresents, expressly or implicitly, 107
(i) that the reviewer used, or otherwise had experience with, the 108
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business, consumer good or consumer service that is the subject of the 109
consumer review, or (ii) the reviewer's experience with the business, 110
consumer good or consumer service that is the subject of the consumer 111
review; 112
(4) Provide any compensation or other incentive to an individual in 113
exchange for, or that is explicitly or implicitly conditioned on, the 114
individual writing a consumer review that expresses a particular 115
sentiment, whether positive or negative, regarding the business, 116
consumer good or consumer service that is the subject of the consumer 117
review; 118
(5) Except as provided in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this 119
section, disseminate, or cause the dissemination of, a consumer 120
testimonial if (A) the business knows, or reasonably should know, that 121
the consumer testimonial is given by an officer, manager, employee or 122
agent of the business, and (B) the consumer testimonial (i) concerns the 123
business or any consumer good or consumer service sold by the 124
business, and (ii) does not clearly and conspicuously disclose, in 125
accordance with the provisions of section 5 of this act, the 126
testimonialist's material relationship to the business, unless such 127
material relationship is otherwise clear to the audience for the consumer 128
testimonial; 129
(6) Materially misrepresent, explicitly or implicitly, that an Internet 130
web site, online technology platform or person that the business owns, 131
operates or controls provides independent reviews or opinions, other 132
than consumer reviews, about a category of businesses, consumer goods 133
or consumer services that includes the business or a consumer good or 134
consumer service sold by the business; or 135
(7) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this 136
section, materially misrepresent, explicitly or implicitly, that the 137
consumer reviews of one or more of the consumer goods or consumer 138
services sold by the business and displayed on any portion of the 139
business's Internet web site or online technology platform that is 140
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dedicated, in whole or in part, to receiving and displaying consumer 141
reviews represents all or most of the consumer reviews that have been 142
submitted to such Internet web site or online technology platform if any 143
consumer review that has been submitted to such Internet web site or 144
online technology platform has been suppressed, or is not displayed, 145
based upon any rating or negative sentiment expressed in such 146
consumer review. 147
(b) (1) The provisions of subdivisions (2), (3) and (5) of subsection (a) 148
of this section shall not be construed to apply to (A) consumer reviews 149
or consumer testimonials that are written or given in response to a 150
generalized solicitation made by a business to the purchasers of a 151
consumer good or consumer service sold by the business for consumer 152
reviews or consumer testimonials regarding the purchasers' experience 153
with the business, consumer good or consumer service, or (B) consumer 154
reviews or consumer testimonials that appear on an Internet web site or 155
online technology platform exclusively because a business provides the 156
technological means by which an Internet web site or online technology 157
platform enables consumers to submit, view and hear the consumer 158
reviews or consumer testimonials; 159
(2) The provisions of subdivision (7) of subsection (a) of this section 160
shall not be construed to prohibit a business from suppressing or 161
refusing to display a consumer review if the suppression or refusal is 162
based on criteria that apply regardless of the rating or sentiment 163
expressed in the consumer review, including, but not limited to, in 164
circumstances in which (A) a consumer review is wholly unrelated to 165
the consumer goods or consumer services offered on the business's 166
Internet web site or online technology platform, (B) a consumer review 167
contains (i) any trade secret or other privileged or confidential 168
commercial or financial information, (ii) any defamatory, harassing, 169
abusive, obscene, vulgar or sexually explicit content, (iii) any personal 170
information concerning, or likeness of, an individual, (iv) any content 171
that is discriminatory with respect to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity 172
or any other intrinsic characteristic, or (v) any content that is clearly false 173
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or misleading, or (C) the business reasonably believes the consumer 174
review was generated by (i) a software program that carries out 175
automated tasks on the Internet web site or online technology platform, 176
or (ii) an account on the Internet web site or online technology platform 177
that (I) falsely purports to be an individual's account and is not 178
associated with the individual, (II) was created by using an individual's 179
personal information without the individual's consent, (III) was 180
unlawfully seized from an individual, or (IV) otherwise inaccurately 181
reflects an individual's activities, opinions, findings or experiences. 182
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) It shall be an unfair or 183
deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the 184
general statutes for an officer or manager of a business to: 185
(1) Write or give a consumer review or consumer testimonial 186
concerning the business, or a consumer good or consumer service sold 187
by the business, unless (A) the consumer review or consumer 188
testimonial clearly and conspicuously discloses, in accordance with the 189
provisions of section 5 of this act, the officer's or manager's material 190
relationship to the business, or (B) in the case of a consumer testimonial, 191
the relationship is otherwise clear to the audience for the consumer 192
testimonial; or 193
(2) Solicit or demand a consumer review concerning the business, or 194
a consumer good or consumer service sold by the business, from an 195
employee or agent of the business, or from an immediate relative of the 196
officer, manager or an employee or agent of the business, if (A) the 197
solicitation or demand causes the employee, agent or immediate relative 198
to write a consumer review that does not clearly and conspicuously 199
disclose the reviewer's material relationship to the business, officer, 200
manager or employee in accordance with the provisions of section 5 of 201
this act, and (B) the officer or manager (i) encouraged the reviewer not 202
to make the disclosure required under subparagraph (A) of this 203
subdivision, (ii) did not instruct the reviewer to make the disclosure 204
required under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, or (iii) (I) knew, 205
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or reasonably should have known, that such consumer review was 206
published without the disclosure required under subparagraph (A) of 207
this subdivision, and (II) failed to take any remedial action in response 208
to publication of such consumer review. 209
(b) The provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section 210
shall not be construed to apply to consumer reviews that are written in 211
response to a generalized solicitation made by a business to the 212
purchasers of a consumer good or consumer service sold by the business 213
for consumer reviews regarding the purchasers' experience with the 214
business, consumer good or consumer service. 215
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) It shall be an unfair or 216
deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the 217
general statutes for a person to: 218
(1) As part of an effort to prevent any person from publishing a 219
consumer review or any portion of a consumer review, or to cause any 220
person to unpublish a consumer review or any portion of a consumer 221
review, (A) make any legal claim, defense or other contention that is (i) 222
not founded in existing law, or (ii) based on any factual assertion that is 223
unsupported by evidence or is unlikely to be supported by evidence 224
after a reasonable opportunity for investigation or discovery, (B) make 225
any physical threat or use any other form of intimidation, or (C) make 226
any publicly accessible and false accusation (i) with the knowledge that 227
such accusation is false, or (ii) with reckless disregard as to the truth or 228
falsity of such accusation; 229
(2) Purchase or otherwise procure any indicator of social media 230
influence that (A) such person knows, or reasonably should know, was 231
generated by (i) a software program that carries out automated tasks on 232
a social media platform, or (ii) an account on a social media platform 233
that (I) falsely purports to be an individual's account and is not 234
associated with the individual, (II) was created by using an individual's 235
personal information without the individual's consent, (III) was 236
unlawfully seized from an individual, or (IV) otherwise inaccurately 237
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reflects an individual's activities, opinions, findings or experiences, and 238
(B) materially misrepresents an individual's influence or importance on 239
a social media platform for a commercial purpose; or 240
(3) Distribute or sell any indicator of social media influence described 241
in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of this section that (A) such 242
person knows, or reasonably should know, is an indicator of social 243
media influence described in said subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) 244
of this section, and (B) can be used by any other person to materially 245
misrepresent an individual's influence or importance on a social media 246
platform for a commercial purpose. 247
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) For the purposes of 248
subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of section 2 of this act and subsection 249
(a) of section 3 of this act, a disclosure shall be deemed to be clear and 250
conspicuous if the disclosure is easily noticeable and understandable by 251
an ordinary consumer because such disclosure: 252
(1) Is made in the same medium through which the representation 253
necessitating such disclosure is made, if such representation is made in 254
an exclusively visual medium or an exclusively audible medium; 255
(2) Is made at least in the same medium through which the 256
representation necessitating such disclosure is made, if such 257
representation is made in a visual and audible medium, including, but 258
not limited to, a television advertisement; 259
(3) Is made in a manner that renders such disclosure easily noticeable, 260
readable and understandable by ordinary consumers, and distinguishes 261
such disclosure from any accompanying text or other visual element, 262
due to the size, contrast, location, duration or other characteristics of 263
such disclosure, if such disclosure is made in a visual medium; 264
(4) Is made in a volume, speed and cadence that is sufficient for 265
ordinary consumers to easily hear and understand such disclosure, if 266
such disclosure is made in an audible medium, including, but not 267
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limited to, the audible element of a telephone communication or 268
streaming video; 269
(5) Is made in a manner that is unavoidable by ordinary consumers 270
and does not require an ordinary consumer to take any action, 271
including, but not limited to, clicking a hyperlink or hovering over an 272
icon, to receive such disclosure, if such disclosure is made in an 273
interactive medium such as an Internet web site, online technology 274
platform or social media platform; 275
(6) Uses diction and syntax that is understandable by ordinary 276
consumers; 277
(7) Appears in each language in which such disclosure is required to 278
appear under any other applicable law; 279
(8) Satisfies all requirements established in this subsection for each 280
medium through which such disclosure is received; and 281
(9) Is not contradicted or mitigated by, or inconsistent with, the other 282
contents of the medium in which such disclosure is made. 283
(b) For the purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the members of 284
a group, including, but not limited to, individuals who are younger than 285
eighteen years of age, individuals who are older than sixty-five years of 286
age or individuals who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, as 287
defined in section 20-14q of the general statutes, shall be deemed to be 288
ordinary consumers for any representation or sales practice that is 289
specifically directed at such group. 290
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) The Commissioner of 291
Consumer Protection may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 292
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the 293
provisions of sections 1 to 5, inclusive, of this act. 294
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 5 October 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 6 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit certain conduct concerning reviews of businesses, consumer
goods and consumer services.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. ELLIOTT, 88th Dist.
H.B. 5560