Should “fake” blogging be made illegal?

Sam Coates, political correspondent for The Times newspaper published an interesting article on 10th February 2007. It appears that in the UK, a few hotels, restaurants and online shops have been writing “glowing reviews” for their own products or services, in order to win more business. However, from 31st December, such “fake blogging” will become illegal, as a new European directive will ban businesses from “falsely representing themselves to consumers”

I believe that blogging can be rich e-marketing tool. However, how strong is the temptation for a business to embelish its products and services to win more trade? Is a small white lie acceptable in the online world?

Firms must realise that even in the online world, ethics and integrity are just as important as they are in the “offline” world. Its nice to see legislation is keeping up to date with the rapid developments in the blogosphere.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1361968.ece

Author: Jas

Jas Dhaliwal is a highly experienced International Social Media Strategist. Currently working as AVG Technologies, Director of Communities and Online Engagement, he specialises in building and engaging with social communities across the web. Born and bred in London, he is passionate about technology and social anthropology. Prior to AVG, Jas launched the social media program for Microsoft’s MVP Award program. Jas holds a BSc (Hons) in Information Systems and has an MBA from Brunel University in London, England. You can follow Jas as @Jas on Twitter or on Google+