In this day and age, it is becoming more and more common for people to take to the internet for airing their grievances or attacking other individuals or businesses. As the internet gives people a way to anonymously make false statements without a lot of recourse or having to confront the recipient face to face, comments have become increasingly detrimental. Common sites where these statements can appear include:
- Social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Blogs and comments on blog postings
- Letters to editors of newspapers
- Employer review sites (Google My Business, GlassDoor, Indeed)
- Chat rooms
- Public comments on media sites
The individuals behind these online attacks can vary in persona; business competitors can come after your business, former employees, ex-boyfriends, girlfriends or spouses, or internet trolls looking to do some damage. These individuals or companies will intentionally post negative content to destroy one’s online reputation. The impact of having a ruined online reputation can be significant. At the individual level repercussions can include the inability to be hired for a job, loss of potential romantic relationships, damage to friendships, and even emotional trauma. For businesses, damage can cause severance of important business ties, loss of customer base, and ultimate closure of the business.
Every defamation situation is different, and therefore there are different approaches at how to combat defamation threats to protect your online reputation. This guide is aimed at providing insight to determine which solution is best for making sure you and your business are protected.
What is Online Defamation?
Online defamation or “defamation of character” is the legal term for a false statement or claim that someone makes that negatively impacts another individual or business’s reputation.
Libel vs. Slander
When dealing with defamation, there are typically two categories that it can fall under.
Libel is a category deemed for written statements. This includes comments made online, blog posts, reviews, ratings, or website posts. Libel is the most common form of online defamation.
Slander is a category for any spoken or oral statements. Examples include audio files, podcasts, or videos posted online.
How to Determine if a Statement is Defamation
There are a few key components when it comes to determining is a statement is considered defamation or not.
- Validity. A statement must be able to be proved entirely false for it to be considered defamation. Facts have the ability to be proven true or false. A matter of opinion is not considered to be defamatory.
- Publication. The statement must be made publicly. It can be published anywhere on the Internet, ranging from blog sites to news articles to a social media posting.
- Harm. The statement must bring some type of damage or negative impact to your reputation. The internet is full of false statements; however, they must have a direct negative impact on you or your company’s reputation.
- Privilege. Is there a right for the statement to be there? Many times, if you are a person or business that has a reputation already that is justified through your actions, there may be no ground to remove any negative statements made.
- Diligence. Many times in a court of law, there must be proof that the statement was made without much research or due diligence into the validity of the statement.
Defamation Laws
Defamation laws vary from state to state so it is important to check with a local attorney or legal counsel in your area to determine what legal options are available to you.
As the First Amendment of the Constitution was made to protect the freedom of speech, it “prohibits congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.” In direct result, it can make success in a legal environment challenging as most courts will not want to rule against the Constitution directly unless the claims have caused significant damages to the individual or business.
In some instances, people have considered going after the Internet Service Provider of the website that hosted the defamatory statement. Unfortunately, in these scenarios, there is a law that protects those companies called the Communications Decency Act. The law exempts most website hosts and Internet Service Providers from certain defamation claims.
While the existing legal environment makes it difficult to sue an offender for harming your reputation, there are other options outside of a lawsuit to protect your online image.
Options for Handling Defamation
- Ignore it.
Depending on the statement that was made, you may not need to take any action at all. If it hasn’t drawn a lot of attention or is buried in search results online, not bringing attention to it may keep it hidden on its own. Not responding to the statement can also result in people thinking the person that made the comment has little credibility or is not trustworthy. Most online readers are able to determine on their own accord if a comment has validity or not.
- Draft a response.
In business situations, such as a Google My Business, Indeed, or GlassDoor comments it may make sense for you and your business to craft a response to the comment. Especially in times where a statement can cause immense damage to your business, not responding to the comment can be construed as an admission of guilt. Comments that warrant a response can include accusations of criminal activity, discrimination, or other legal issues. Being responsible, clear and concise in your response can show that you are taking the high road and have nothing to hide from the public. If your response is strong enough, you may leave viewers questioning the intent of the person who initially made the comment.
- Attempt to remove it.
Depending on the source in which the statement is posted, having the owner of that site remove the content may be an option. Some websites have their own Terms of Service that states that they will remove any content that is false, intended to mislead or may bring harm to the subject of the posting. If the statement is in direct violation of their terms, removal is a good option for getting rid of those comments harming your reputation. Removal is a good strategy; however, you may have to monitor in the event the individual reposts the statement to that site or any other avenues. Setting up Google Alerts to alert you any time your name is posted online may be a good solution once the content is removed to keep you informed if the content gets reposted anywhere.
- Suppression.
If the owners of the site that contains the content refuse to remove the statement(s) that are defamatory, contacting an online reputation management company for professional help may be your next step. Suppression, also known as “pushing down” is the process in which a professional team works to hide the websites containing the negative information by pushing them further down in search results. Professional support will work with you to help create positive content such as blog posts that will ultimately rank higher in search results. As more positive content is created and through using search-engine optimization strategies, the negative content can then be pushed to pages 2+ in Google search results, helping promote a strong personal and professional reputation online.
In summation, online defamation can cause lasting damage to your online reputation. Your life can be turned upside down when it comes to working with businesses, potential employers, family or friends. Just remember, you have various strategies available to you for tackling the negative information posted online.
How Reputation Resolutions Can Help
The best approach in dealing with any negative content is always to remove it from search results. At Reputation Resolutions, we have developed a range of strategies for removing and suppressing online defamation in Google, and our team provides the fastest and most affordable solution for helping you regain control over your online reputation. Best of all, there’s no risk involved – due to our high success rate in removing or suppressing online defamation from Google, we now only charge for this service on a pay-for-performance basis.
Why Trust Our Team
Reputation Resolutions is one of the few Reputation Management firms that have an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau. In addition, Reputation Resolutions has been selected as one of the top 5 providers of online reputation management services in the industry by both greatagencies.com and topseos.com. To see reviews from past clients who have used our services, click here.
Get Started Today
If you are looking to remove or suppress online defamation from Google’s search results, please fill out the form below or call us today at 855-239-5322 to speak to one of our specialists.