Can You Sue a Yelp Reviewer for Libel

When you're building a business organization, you want to do everything you tin to provide stellar products and/or services to your customers. When you lot operate at a high standard, you'll gain a reputation as a concern that people tin trust and rely on—and that reputation will continually drive new customers your way.

Online reviews play a huge role in building that reputation. When potential customers inquiry your concern and read glowing, five-star reviews, they're going to want to accomplish out and do business organisation with you lot. But if they read a bad review (even if it'due south biased, unfair or completely untrue), it'due south going to do the opposite—and send those customers straight to your competitors.

As a business owner, you lot want to do everything y'all tin to effectively deal with negative reviews so they don't ruin your business' reputation and keep customers from working with you.

Just what practice you lot practice when y'all become an unfair or untrue annotate? How do you handle the state of affairs? And can you (or should you) accept it as far as suing for defamation?

Contents

• Who Can You Sue Over a Bad Review?
• Can You Sue Review Sites Directly?
• What Can Y'all Practise?
• What Not to Do
• Bargain With Bad Reviews Effectively

Who Tin You Sue Over a Bad Review?

To exist honest, the answer is: It depends.

For the almost part, reviews are covered under the Starting time Amendment, which protects free speech. Additionally, 34 U.S. states have passed Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws. Anti-SLAPP is intended to preclude people or businesses from silencing or censoring their critics past intimidating them with the threat of a lawsuit.

Thanks to these protections, if a customer is unhappy with your products or services, or the experiences they've had with your business concern, they have the right to say so—whether that be in person, over the phone, or online.

There are, however, exceptions. If a customer posts a review that is factually inaccurate or contains accusations about your business that are untrue, y'all may have grounds to sue the online reviewer for defamation.

The best way to distinguish between the 2? Whatever review that contains a customer'due south opinions or factual information about your business would exist covered under free speech. Some examples of content that would be covered nether the First Amendment include:

• "That business organization charges an arm and a leg!"
• "I wasn't happy with the level of service I received."
• "The customer service representative was rude."

On the other paw, any review that contains blatant factual inaccuracies that impairment your business could be grounds for a defamation lawsuit. Some examples of content that might allow you to sue (assuming the content is untrue) include:

• "This company does not have a license to provide their services."
• "1 of the workers stole an expensive scout while painting my abode."
• "This company charged me for services that they never delivered—and have refused to return my coin."

Earlier you even consider suing, make sure yous distinguish whether the annotate would even qualify as defamation—or if it would be protected under the Kickoff Amendment.

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Tin can Y'all Sue Review Sites Direct?

There are certain scenarios where yous would be able to sue a reviewer over a bad review (namely if it contained factual inaccuracies that harmed your business organization).

But what about the site where the review is hosted? Can you go above the customer and sue the review site directly?

Equally it turns out, you can't.

Under the U.South. Communications Decency Human action, websites cannot be held liable for publishing any content written by a third party—and that includes review sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, Healthgrades, and Angie'southward List.

So if the review site doesn't modify or modify the content or meaning of the original comment? They're protected from any potential libel or defamation suits, which ways you tin't sue them.

What Can You lot Do?

If yous happen to come across a negative annotate about your concern, what should you do? Is filing a defamation lawsuit a viable selection?

The truth is, it takes a significant corporeality of time, money and free energy to hire a lawyer and bring a adapt to court in order to get a bad review removed from a review site. Merely, if the comment is extremely harmful to your business (and you tin can prove information technology to be fake), it may be worth that time, money and energy. If not, there are other, more practical ways to deal with a bad review.

Some strategies you can use to effectively deal with a negative review online include:

• Asking the website to remove the online review. If someone has posted a comment that's both negative and factually inaccurate, you can request that the website remove information technology by making your case that the information in the review is false. Just proceed in heed that they're under no obligation to remove the review.
• Post a thoughtful, gracious response. Arguably the best mode to deal with a negative review? Posting a thoughtful, gracious response. Address any issues brought up in the review, share how your company is working to ensure information technology doesn't happen again and offer a solution to the client. For example, if they had a negative customer service, you lot might apologize and offer them a disbelieve code for a future purchase.
• Generate more positive online reviews. One of the best ways to combat negative reviews? With plenty of expert reviews. Strive to offer the best products and/or services to your customers, brand sure they're satisfied and then inquire them to mail service a review.

If you ultimately decide to move frontward with a lawsuit, it's important to consult a lawyer immediately. And especially earlier you invest too much time, money or energy into the procedure. They tin requite y'all deeper insights on your legal options, the viability of your instance and whether yous might be able to successfully sue for damages.

What Not to Practice

In that location are besides a few things yous definitely DON'T want to exercise when you discover a negative review for your business, including:

• React immediately: Reading negative comments sting. Then when you read one, your human knee-jerk reaction may be to answer in the moment (east.grand., past posting a comment defending yourself). Only if y'all respond immediately, you may react poorly (e.g., lashing out because you feel angry or insulted). Instead, requite yourself time to absurd off earlier you write a measured response.
• Ignore the content: While it can be hard to read negative or critical things nigh yourself or your business, if in that location'due south truth to the negative review, it tin exist a growth opportunity. Don't immediately ignore the content of a review simply because it's negative. Instead, sit with it. See if in that location's any truth to what the review says and develop a program to accost the issue moving forward.
• Retaliate: If a annotate is either insulting or spreading lies well-nigh your business concern, y'all may want to retaliate against the reviewer. But it's incredibly important non to retaliate online considering that retaliation can come dorsum to haunt you—especially if you program to file a defamation suit.

Here's a existent-life example:

A contractor filed a $700,000 lawsuit against a homeowner who claimed on Yelp and Angie'south List that he damaged her townhouse, billed her for piece of work he never completed and stole her jewelry. Originally, the court awarded the contractor a victory and ordered the homeowner to take downward the comment near theft.

But before going to trial, the contractor posted his own negative comments in response, challenge that since the homeowner never paid, she actually stole from him.

Ultimately, the jury determined that while the homeowner defamed the contractor, the contractor'due south later negative remarks too defamed her—then no amercement were awarded. Essentially, the contractor's online retaliation may have cost him a $700,000 settlement.

Deal With Bad Reviews Effectively

No i likes to see bad reviews for their business—especially if they're malicious, harmful or untrue. But at present that you know the nigh effective means to deal with them, you'll know how to navigate the situation next fourth dimension you lot see a negative comment—whether that's past managing information technology on your own or consulting a lawyer to move forward with a defamation suit.

This postal service was updated in August, 2020.

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Source: https://www.freshbooks.com/blog/can-you-sue-over-a-bad-review

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