No place for fake reviews: Facebook, eBay pledge to end illicit businesses

LONDON: Britain’s competition watchdog said Wednesday that Facebook and eBay pledged to crack down on the trade in fake reviews at its request, removing hundreds of accounts, pages and groups involved in the illicit business.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the two US tech companies agreed to step up efforts to detect, investigate and respond to fake and misleading reviews after it ordered them last year to address the problem.

Facebook removed 188 pages and groups and disabled 24 accounts that were involved in the fake review trade, some on its Instagram platform.

Some of the pages and groups were identified by the agency, others were found by Facebook.