S. Korea's antitrust regulator launches probe into Coupang's alleged false reviews

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will investigate e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. for suspicion of forcing employees to post false reviews on private brand (PB) products to attract customers, industry.

Civic groups had filed reports with the antitrust regulator about the suspected act by Coupang and its subsidiary CPLB.

While cases reported to the FTC are usually dealt with by regional offices, Coupang’s case will be handled by its headquarters due to the potential social impact.

Civic groups claimed in a press conference that Coupang mobilized employees without any proper compensation to write false reviews since last July.

Coupang supposedly wanted to bring more exposure to its private brand products.

The FTC is also investigating Coupang for manipulating algorithms to prioritize Coupang’s PB products on the top of its rankings since June.