How to shut down untrue comments posted online about you / your business

What to do if you find that somebody is posting untrue things about you or your business on social media or elsewhere online?🙄
You have probably heard of the legal concept of defamation, but not many small business owners actually understand what it’s all about and how you would actually go about bringing a claim for defamation or if there is anything else you can do. 😳
A statement is defamatory if it causes or is likely to cause serious harm to your reputation or to the reputation of your business (by showing a serious financial loss caused by the statement OR the likelihood of a serious financial loss). 💩
So what to actually do if somebody is threatening to post (or has posted) untrue things about you on social media or online? 😬
Well the first thing to do is gather evidence of the offending statements and consider whether they are true or honest opinion based on true facts, as both of these are defences to claims for defamation.💪
If you believe you have a case for defamation, you could consider hiring a lawyer to make a claim of defamation for you, in which case, amongst other things, you could claim damages (ie compensation for your loss) and/ or an injunction (ie an order for the offending statement to be taken down). 💪💪💪
However, instructing a specialist lawyer to bring a time for defamation is not going to be cheap - so perhaps a more possible option would be to contact the person and say that if they do not take down that content you will bring a claim for defamation, in the hope that the threat of a claim will be enough to make them think twice. 👍
In addition, you can contact the ISP on which the offending statement has been published and require that they take down the offending statement. 💪💪💪
BONUS TIP: A claim for defamation must be brought within one year of the offending statement being published.
I hope that’s helpful to know where to start with this - like and follow for more legal tips! 🎉
✨Empowering and Protecting Your Small Business, Every Step of the Way 🛡️✨
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