The Internet, and user-generated review sites such as Yelp! and others, make it easy to engage in online attacks to the reputation of both individuals and companies. Unfortunately, pervasive online reviews and review sites, can, and do, cause serious damage to businesses.
While “attacks” come from a variety of sources, most originate from disgruntled employees, competitors, disillusioned investors, professional extortionists (e.g. “mug shot” web sites) or just regular people upset with a company (or its managers).
Attacks come in many forms. Some are legitimate concerns on consumer-protection websites. But some are customers and competitors who post false information on social media or false reviews.
This article provides multiple approaches and practices for dealing with online attacks on personal and business reputations.
- Understand online risks. Online reviews and social media make it easy for disgruntled employees, competitors, and others to publish damaging or false information that can quickly harm a business’s reputation.
- Form a response team. When attacks occur, assemble a coordinated team (legal, PR, marketing, tech, and an internal lead) to assess the threat, plan strategy, and decide how to counter or dilute the negative message.
- Evaluate harm and when to sue. Analyze financial data, traffic, and business trends to decide whether the attack is actually hurting profits and whether litigation is worth the cost, risk, and potential extra publicity.
- Investigate the attacker. Gather information about whether the attacker is anonymous or known, a one‑time complainer or a persistent campaigner, and how large and influential their online audience is.
- Unmask anonymous posters carefully. Use investigators, subpoenas to platforms and ISPs, forensic exams of suspected devices, and (in some cases) affidavits to identify anonymous attackers, while staying within ethical and procedural limits.
- Use platform rules to remove content. Rely on website terms of service and reporting tools (for sites like Yelp or Wikipedia) to argue that content violates their rules and should be taken down or edited.
- Pursue quiet, practical fixes. Consider confidential negotiations or settlements with the author, asking traditional media to update or remove outdated stories, and using ORM or SEO tactics to push harmful links lower in search results.
- Leverage courts and de‑indexing. In serious cases, obtain court orders against attackers and then present those orders to search engines (like Google) to have harmful links de‑indexed from search results, even if the content remains online.
- Litigate strategically and beware anti‑SLAPP. If filing suit (often as a John Doe case initially), ensure solid legal grounds, proof of falsity and damages, and an ability to withstand anti‑SLAPP motions so the case does not backfire publicly.
- Prove and recover damages. Use lost‑profit evidence and expert estimates of ORM/cleanup costs to quantify harm, invoke defamation per se where available, and in competitor‑fake‑review cases seek remedies under the Lanham Act for false advertising.
Ping® by AdlerLaw A Legal Blog 