[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14631]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CONSUMER REVIEW FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, as chairman of the Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over consumer 
protection matters, I introduced the bipartisan Consumer Review Freedom 
Act last year, along with Senators Schatz and Moran, and cosponsored by 
Senators McCaskill, Daines, Blumenthal, Nelson, Booker, and Wyden, to 
address a growing and alarming trend affecting American consumers in 
the United States. Some businesses are slipping so-called gag clauses 
into form contracts to stop consumers from providing critical feedback 
to the public, even when that feedback is an honest reflection of the 
consumer experience.
  This legislation, and companion legislation agreed to in the House of 
Representatives would invalidate nondisparagement clauses in form 
contracts and make it unlawful for a person to offer or enter into a 
contract containing a nonnegotiable nondisparagement clause. Both bills 
contain a rule of construction to clarify that the legislation should 
not be construed to affect the right of a Web site owner to remove a 
review that ``contains the personal information or likeness of another 
person or is libelous, harassing, abusive, obscene, vulgar, sexually 
explicit, or inappropriate with respect to race, gender, sexuality, 
ethnicity, or other intrinsic characteristic.''
  This language is simply intended to preserve the existing ability of 
Web site operators to enforce such terms of service. For example, it 
would--and is intended to--preserve the ability of a business to remove 
language from its Web site that includes inappropriate or harassing 
references to someone's religion, physical disability, or similar 
characteristic. As highlighted at the Commerce Committee hearing on 
this legislation, the intent is not to regulate speech; the intent is 
to ensure that consumers are protected against fees and penalties 
imposed pursuant to form contracts for engaging in honest reviews of 
goods and services.
  I am pleased that the Senate has passed the latest version of this 
legislation and that it will be headed to the President's desk for 
signature. I thank my colleagues for their support of this measure.

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