The Consumer Review Fairness Act for forum owners
Review threads and product boards are some of the most useful content on a forum. Businesses sometimes try to stop negative reviews with fine print. Federal law limits that, and it also spells out what a site owner can still remove.
- A form-contract term is void if it prohibits or restricts an individual's review, imposes a penalty or fee for a review, or requires transfer of IP rights in the review (other than a non-exclusive license).
- Simply offering a form contract containing such a term is unlawful, and the FTC enforces it.
- The law doesn't affect defamation claims or legal duties of confidentiality.
- A site owner can still remove or refuse to display reviews that contain personal information, are abusive, obscene or harassing, are unrelated to the goods or services, or are clearly false or misleading.
What the law voids
Under 15 U.S.C. 45b, Consumer Review Fairness Act, "a provision of a form contract is void from the inception" if it prohibits or restricts the ability of an individual party to engage in a covered communication, imposes "a penalty or fee" for doing so, or transfers the individual's intellectual property rights in review content, "with the exception of a non-exclusive license to use the content." A covered communication is "a written, oral, or pictorial review, performance assessment of, or other similar analysis of" a party's goods, services or conduct. "Pictorial" includes photos, video, illustrations and symbols.
A form contract means standardized terms used in selling or leasing goods or services and "imposed on an individual without a meaningful opportunity" to negotiate. It doesn't include employer-employee or independent contractor contracts.
It's illegal to even offer the clause
The act says "it shall be unlawful for a person to offer a form contract containing a provision described as void." The FTC treats a violation like a violation of an FTC trade regulation rule.
What forum owners can still do
The act preserves "any party's right to remove or refuse to display publicly" on its own website content that:
- contains personal information or likeness of another person, or is libelous, harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar or sexually explicit, or inappropriate with respect to race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or other intrinsic characteristic;
- is unrelated to the goods or services offered on or available at the site; or
- is clearly false or misleading.
It also doesn't affect civil causes of action for defamation, libel or slander.
Practical steps
- If your forum sells memberships or ads, check your own terms for any "no negative reviews" or review-fee language.
- Write moderation rules for review threads that follow the categories above and apply them consistently.
- If a business threatens a member over an honest review based on a contract clause, that clause may be void.
Related: the FTC review rule for forum owners and Section 230 for forum owners.
General information, not legal advice. Source: 15 U.S.C. 45b, Consumer Review Fairness Act.
Published October 31, 2026. We do not use affiliate links on this page; see our Affiliate Disclosure.