BALTIMORE, Feb. 18, 2026—For years, consumers have quietly edited themselves online. A harsh review softened. A detail left out. A complaint never posted at all. New research shows that when the legal threat behind that silence disappears, the internet gets more honest, and more useful, almost immediately.
A new study published in Information Systems Research, a leading peer-reviewed journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), finds that a federal consumer protection law fundamentally changed how Americans review businesses online. After the Consumer Review Fairness Act took effect, online reviews became more negative, more detailed and more informative, suggesting that previously suppressed criticism finally surfaced.
The law, passed in 2016, prohibits businesses from using legal threats or contract clauses to silence customer reviews. Until now, there has been little empirical evidence showing whether it actually worked.
This study answers that question with data at massive scale.
Analyzing more than 2 million hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, researchers compared U.S. hotels with hotels in countries not affected by the law. The results were striking. After the law took effect, reviews of U.S. hotels dropped in star ratings, became more negative in tone and grew longer. In short, consumers said more, and said it more plainly.
“That pattern is exactly what you would expect if people had been holding back before,” researcher Aida Sanatizadeh found, adding “when legal pressure lifts, authenticity rises.”
The effects were not evenly distributed. The biggest shifts appeared among hotels with weaker reputations and hotels facing intense competition, suggesting those businesses had the most to gain from discouraging bad reviews before the law. American reviewers and long-tenured users were also far more likely to change their behavior, underscoring how legal jurisdiction and experience shape who feels safe speaking up.
Why does this matter beyond travel websites?
Online reviews play an outsized role in modern life, influencing where people eat, shop, stay and seek services. Even small changes in ratings can have major economic consequences. When negative but truthful reviews are suppressed, consumers lose critical information and markets lose transparency.
The study also uncovered evidence of a chilling effect. Consumers who reported receiving legal threats were more likely to write systematically more positive reviews afterward, not just for the business that threatened them but across platforms. Fear, once introduced, lingers.
The findings suggest regulation can do something rare: restore trust at scale.
To test whether the results extended beyond one platform or one law, the researchers replicated their analysis using Google Places reviews and examined state-level repeals of criminal defamation laws. The pattern held. When legal protections strengthened, reviews became more candid and more detailed.
For policymakers, the research offers rare empirical validation that consumer protection laws can meaningfully change behavior. For platforms, it highlights the importance of detecting and deterring review suppression. For journalists, it opens a window into how invisible legal pressure shapes the digital information people rely on every day.
In a world flooded with ratings and opinions, this study suggests that what matters most is not just who speaks online, but who finally feels free to tell the truth.
Read the full text of the study here.
About INFORMS and
INFORMS is the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research, AI, analytics, data science and related disciplines, serving as a global authority in advancing cutting-edge practices and fostering an interdisciplinary community of innovation. INFORMS helps its members advance research and practice through cutting-edge journals, conferences and resources. Learn more at www.informs.org or @informs.
About Information Systems Research
Information Systems Research, an INFORMS journal, focuses on the utilization of information technology to enhance organizational efficiency.
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