HB 5560 Connecticut House · 2025 Regular Session

AN ACT PROHIBITING CERTAIN CONDUCT CONCERNING REVIEWS OF BUSINESSES, CONSUMER GOODS AND CONSUMER SERVICES.

HB 5560 prohibits businesses from creating or spreading fake reviews, testimonials, or celebrity endorsements that falsely claim to come from real people or misrepresent their experience with a business, product, or service. It specifically bans businesses from: (1) writing or selling fake reviews/testimonials that pretend a reviewer exists or had real experience, and (2) buying or sharing such false content when they know it misrepresents the reviewer’s existence or experience. The law applies to online reviews on websites or social media platforms, covering consumer goods (like household items) and services (like home repairs) sold to people in the state. It exempts reviews from "immediate relatives" (spouses, parents, children, siblings) but targets misleading content meant to trick consumers. The bill takes effect October 1, 2025.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Mar 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Proposed Bill → Committee Bill · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand its scope from only consumer goods and services to include businesses themselves, and the bill number was updated to reflect committee review. The definitions section was significantly expanded to clarify key terms like 'consumer review,' 'celebrity testimonial,' and 'social media platform.' The prohibited conduct provisions were also broadened to cover misrepresentations about the existence of reviewers and their experiences.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly covers reviews of businesses in addition to consumer goods and services, and includes more detailed definitions for enforcement purposes.

SCOPE

The title and scope were expanded from 'consumer goods and services' to 'businesses, consumer goods and consumer services' to include business reviews.

DEFINITION

Added comprehensive definitions for key terms including 'Business,' 'Celebrity testimonial,' 'Consumer,' 'Consumer review,' 'Consumer service,' 'Consumer testimonial,' 'Immediate relative,' 'Indicator of social media influence,' 'Manager,' 'Officer,' 'Person,' 'Purchase,' 'Reviewer,' 'Social media platform,' and 'Testimonialist.'

REQUIREMENT

Expanded prohibited conduct to include misrepresenting whether a reviewer or testimonialist exists, not just misrepresenting their experience with the product or service.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill tracking numbers from Proposed Bill No. 5560 (LCO No. 241) to Committee Bill No. 5560 (LCO No. 5281) and changed the effective date to October 1, 2025.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON General Law

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

DRAFTED BY COMMITTEE

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON General Law

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors