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TripAdvisor accused of suppressing rape allegations
TripAdvisor faces the threat of an investigation after accusations that it deleted posts by customers alleging rape and assaults at some resorts in Mexico.
A US newspaper is claiming it has seen a letter from the Federal Trade Commission suggesting it might look into the reports. The letter was sent to Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin.
"The Commission has a strong interest in protecting consumer confidence in the online marketplace, including the robust online market for hotel and travel," wrote FTC action chair Maureen Ohlhausen. "When consumers are unable to post honest reviews about a business, it can harm other consumers whose abilities to make well-informed purchase decisions are hindered and harm businesses that work hard to earn positive reviews."
After an initial backlash TripAdvisor began adding warnings to the business pages of hotels where safety issues including sex assaults had been reported.
"As a user-generated content platform that receives hundreds pieces of content per minute every day, we believe our guidelines work well, but we also know we don’t always get it right," the company said in a statement.
"As we always do, we continue to review our guidelines and will continue to update them to better serve our users and businesses we support."
However, TripAdvisor said it was unaware of any current or impending FTC investigation and hasn’t been in contact with the agency
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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