Jennifer Rhind, a solicitor in the Commercial Litigation Team at Wright Hassall Solicitors, discusses online defamation – how to spot it and how to stop it.

 

If a business considers a bad online review to be defamatory, then the person who made the statement could face serious financial punishment. In recent headline news, a law firm’s previous client was forced to pay £25,000 in libel damages for a negative Trustpilot review. This shows how far an aggrieved business can take matters if needed.

According to the Defamation Act 2013, for a statement to be considered defamatory, the publication of the statement must have caused, or be likely to cause, serious harm to reputation.

A business will need to prove that the statement has caused serious financial loss to be regarded as ‘serious harm’ if the suspected statement relates to harming the reputation of a business.

How a business should react

In the modern business world, companies have come to accept that occasionally they will receive some negative feedback on social media and that not every statement of this nature is technically defamatory.

However, there are some harsh statements that overstep the mark and are defamatory publications. Even though the person who posted the statement may have been upset at the time; that does not make it any less serious.

Many people believe they can express any opinions they want about a business. In fact, one of the defences to a claim in defamation is honest opinion.

An individual seeking to use this defence would need to establish the words complained of as being defamatory were a statement of opinion that indicated as such, and which an honest person could have held.

However, if the statement is deemed to be a statement of fact, this defence would be unsuccessful. There is a very fine line between statement of fact and statement of opinion.

For those businesses reviewing online comments, you should always consider what meaning or meanings the words are reasonably capable of bearing. For example, words can be defamatory not only in their natural and ordinary meaning but also through innuendo.

Whilst the author of an opinion might not consider their words to bear a defamatory meaning, various factors need consideration. For instance, whether the author has over-elaborated the position and what the ordinary reasonable reader would consider it to mean.

Further, as a general rule, an individual will not escape liability just by claiming they are simply repeating something that someone else told them unless they can prove the subject matter of the comment is true.

Repeating someone else’s defamatory statement is just as bad as if you had made the defamatory statement yourself.

If you have any concerns or suspect a review contains exaggerated opinions or ones that cannot be justified, with the sole intention of causing your business harm, it might be time to take legal advice.

Social media and review sites pose a risk

The case in the introduction references the law firm Summerfield Browne who sought damages against a client who left a defamatory review on Trustpilot: “A total waste of money, another scam solicitor”.

Although the Defendant sought to argue this was his honest opinion, the Court awarded Summerfield Browne damages of £25,000 and costs. Plus, an injunction banning the Defendant from repeating his allegations.

The Court also ordered that Trustpilot should remove the review from its website. However, this is likely to be challenged by Trustpilot, as they were not involved in the proceedings.

In conclusion

As a business operating in the modern digitally connected world, you must actively monitor your online reputation. Whilst welcoming honest customer feedback, you should consider action to protect and defend your hard-earned reputation when you believe it has been unfairly maligned.

If someone, even anonymously, expresses an opinion about your business that you believe is defamatory, you should consider obtaining legal advice from a specialist; particularly in light of the potential defences which may be available to an individual faced with a defamation claim.

For further information on Wright Hassall Solicitors, please click here.