The Federal Trade Commission just announced the newly-adjusted maximum civil penalty dollar amounts for violations of various provisions of law that the FTC enforces. The big news for advertisers is that, for violations of certain provisions of Section 5 of the FTC Act, the maximum civil penalty amount is now a whopping $46,517.
While civil penalties are not usually available to the FTC in a false advertising action, the FTC is able to seek civil penalties for violations of FTC orders and certain FTC rules, as well as in other limited circumstances.
Seeking to increase its ability to obtain financial relief, in late 2021, the FTC sent out Notices of Penalty Offenses related to fake reviews and endorsements, for-profit educational institutions, and money-making opportunities, warning marketers that the FTC will seek civil penalties from them if they violate FTC standards in these areas.
The full text of the Federal Register notice, adjusting the civil penalty amounts, is available here.
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