Amazon Guards ‘Rings of Power’ By Suspending User Reviews For 72 Hours To Vet For Trolls

Amazon has introduced a new policy with regard to user reviews for its content in order to vet for internet trolls.

The streaming platform has suspended user reviews for 72 hours following a premiere in order to avoid negative reviews from individuals who are talking smack just for the sake of it. The new policy had gone into effect around the time A League of Their Own premiered its first full season on August 12.

Following the 72-hour hold, each submission will be evaluated to determine whether it’s genuine feedback or just fake negative commentary created by a bot or troll.

Prime Video debuted the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on September 1 and it has already been review bombed by trolls on other sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, where it has an 84% rating from professional critics, but a 37% from user reviews. The platform has been dealing with trolls for months, particularly those who take issue with the decision to cast actors of color as elves, dwarves, harfoots and other folk of Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth.

The $1 billion fantasy series based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien is Amazon’s attempt to compete with such hit shows as HBO‘s Game of Thrones.

Amazon’s new initiative appears to be working as A League of Their Own currently has an average 4.3 out of 5 star rating on Prime Video, with 80% of users rating the show with five stars and 14% with one star.

As the platform continues to weed out bad faith reviews, it’s a waiting game at this point to see if they’ve been successful in deadening their influence for The Rings of Power.

Stream The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on Prime Video