Defamation and libel

[jasper1106]

Hello all,

Well probably another libel post which comes to nothing. This more than likely occurs thousands of times a day but as I'm no legal rep nor someone who's too hot in that department I wondered where I stood with this one.

A website has decided to publish a paragraph of pure untruths about a company and his dealings with that company on the front page of his website. The owner is likely in his teens but in the same breath the notice posted could be harmful to business and can easily be proved wrong.

Is there anything you can do about this kind of thing, ie any scare tactic to take this notice down?

I wouldn't mind if it were true

[Lil_Red]

The simplest solution would be to notify the company in question and let them pursue the issue.

[asprookie]

I wondered where I stood with this one

We wonder too! Are you a webmaster, a forum moderator, a friend of THE company, assuming you are, follow Lil_Red's advice.

A lot of companies use scare tactics even if the allegations are true, they're fighting off bad publicity. THE company would have to prove the allegations are false and malicious. Some companies hire individuals/other companies who do nothing but check what's been said about them, whether on blogs or newsprint media. We could call it reputation control or rep police.

[jasper1106]

Hi guys, thanks for the additional info. I've been reading up on a few other topics and the general view is you can't do much about this type of review as it's one person's opinion.

I am a friend of the company in question and I am fully aware that the allegation could be proved false very easily.

What would be the best route to take from here? Contacting the hosting provider of the malicious website, or are there some more options?

Interesting about the "Rep police", but as some point out there's no such thing as "bad publicity". What frustrates me most is the allegations are most certainly not true for this hard-working organisation.

Some have speculated that this review has been initiated by a competitor but there's certainly no proof of that only that the information published is completely false. The information has been published on a US site, so not sure what rulings would cover that?



Thank you all for your help.

[asprookie]

Contact the webmaster or publisher and tell them that your company respects freedom of expression and constructive criticism but might take action if those allegations turn out to be false.

Ennemies and competitors are most likely to invent things. A true client or consumer rarely exagerate.

[jasper1106]

Interesting take on it asp, will refer back and see how things progress. What I don't want to do is advise an empty threat, id like to be able to have a plan if route A fails.