Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of consumer protection legislation in relation to the use of artificial intelligence to generate summaries of online reviews.

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), online platforms must take reasonable steps to ensure consumer reviews on their sites are genuine. This includes AI-generated summaries which must accurately represent the overall consensus of genuine reviews. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published separate guidance for businesses that publish reviews to help meet their legal obligations.

Where traders do not comply with the law, the DMCCA has strengthened enforcement powers. It has given the CMA new administrative powers to enable them and the courts to impose significant monetary penalties.