Consumer gag clauses: Totally not awesome under CRFA

We doubt the lyric gag me with a form contract clause would have been a hit, but its among the tactics expressly outlawed by the Consumer Review Fairness Act.

Metadata

Provider:

FTC

URL:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2019/06/consumer-gag-clauses-totally-not-awesome-under-crfa

Retrieved on:

Monday, June 3, 2019

Information

Tags:

Musicians, Entertainers, 114th United States Congress, Consumer Review Fairness Act, United States contract law, Frank Zappa

Summary

Key Points:

We doubt the lyric gag me with a form contract clause would have been a hit, but its among the tactics expressly outlawed by the Consumer Review Fairness Act.
As two proposed settlements demonstrate, the FTC thinks gag clauses and similar non-disparagement provisions that violate the CRFA are to quote Ms. Zappa grody to the max.
The law also makes it illegal to impose a penalty or fee against a consumer who engages in communications protected by the CRFA.
Keep them totally tubular by deleting any clauses that attempt to stop consumers from sharing their honest opinions about your products, service, or conduct.