'Astroturfing' or fake blogging now illegal
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There has been a change to UK media law that affects digital media and online PR and this is the new hot topic amongst the digital media sector: 'Astroturfing' or fake blogging is now illegal as per a new law which came into effect on 26th May 2008.
What used to be just a faux pas is now more than that, and with the growing volume of product and service commentary online across forums and review sites, this law change is an important issue for all companies. In plain English, the law means that businesses must not falsely represent themselves as a consumer, and that companies will no longer be able to post fake entries on blogs or message boards that imply they are made by customers - an increasingly common practice.
High profile examples of cases where this happened in the past came up for severe criticism, but if they were to happen today they would get much more. For further reading on the topic this article by Robert Plummer, business reporter, BBC News: 'Will fake business blogs crash and burn?' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7287413.stm is a good overview on the subject. The full 48-page legalese on the new law itself is also available online here http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file44861.pdf
Is this a hot issue for you and your company? We would of course be happy to work through this issue with you in more depth. To arrange a session on this for you and your team, please email Colette Hughes on
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