If you were to search for your name online and see false, negative information posted about you on social media or a blog, it would obviously be upsetting. Unfortunately, this is a situation many people find they face at some point or another.
The following are seven things to know about defamation, particularly when it occurs online, and what your potential options for dealing with it are.
1. The Basics of Defamation
We hear defamation referred to as defamation of character as well. Essentially, it’s a term for any statement that’s harmful to your reputation.
When something is written, it’s actually libel, and defamation that’s spoken is slander. Written statements last longer than something spoken, so most courts consider libel more damaging than slander.
Defaming someone isn’t a crime, but it’s a tort. A tort is a civil rather than criminal wrong. If someone is defamed, they can sue the person who defamed them for damages.
In defamation law, the goal is to balance what are often competing interests. People shouldn’t lie about other people and ruin their lives, but this has to be balanced with the fact that people should be able to speak freely.
2. Establishing Defamation
In order to establish defamation, generally, there have to be four things that are true, although the specifics vary between states.
First, it has to be published. That means a third party could hear or see the statement. Published doesn’t have to mean it was written in a big publication. It could have been written on social media, on a blog, or anywhere that a third party could see it.
The second element of defamation is that the statement is false.
Even if someone posts something extremely unkind about you on social media, if it’s true, it’s not defamation. If the statement can’t be proven to be false on an objective basis, it’s not defamation either. For example, if someone says your business is the worst in town, the statement can’t necessarily be proven false.
The third element of defamation is that it’s injurious. There must be something about the defamation that led to you being hurt. Maybe your business is being bombarded by protestors, for example.
Then the fourth element is that the defamatory statement has to be unprivileged. If a witness testifies in a deposition or in court falsely, they can’t be sued.
3. Online Defamation
Content aggregation sites, online commentary, and social networks have all increased situations where defamatory content might be floating around. Untrue statements can quickly reach broad audiences.
There are sites that even encourage the sharing of information viewed as sensational without regulation or fact-checking.
A Yelp review can be seen by tens of thousands, or an edited photo on Reddit could get hundreds of thousands of views.
While the online and social media worlds have made there more instances of defamation, that doesn’t mean they’re all actionable.
If someone says something bad about your business on Yelp, if it’s true, it’s not defamation.
There’s also the fact that opinions are privileged under the law. If someone has an opinion about you or your business they share online, you can’t sue them for defamation.
The effects of defamation online and on social media can be far-reaching in your life. It could harm your reputation and relationships, lead to a loss of business or profits, and it can create psychological damage. Many people who are victims of online defamation live with extreme stress, and their lives are upended.
4. Protecting Yourself Against Defamation
There are some things, particularly when it comes to social media, you can do to protect yourself against social media defamation.
One of the best proactive things to do is adjust your social media privacy settings. The more private you are on social media, the harder it is for people who might have malicious intentions to find your content. The more public your social media is, the more vulnerable you are.
If there is anything posted about you on social media or moderated platforms that’s defamatory, you might be able to flag it, report it, or request that it be removed. You’ll have to explain why it’s defamatory and violates the rules of the platform.
5. What to Do If You’re the Victim of Online Defamation
Along with keeping your profiles as private as you can and reporting things that are defamatory to you, there are other things to do if you figure out you’re a victim of online defamation.
First, don’t respond to the person defaming you. It can be tempting to retaliate or publicly respond to whatever they’re saying, but that’s likely to create more problems. When you respond to the attack, it can make the situation worse, draw more attention to it and also put you in a potentially bad legal situation.
You shouldn’t take any extreme action.
Instead, stay calm, and keep the content. If you’re going to file a lawsuit, you’ll need evidence. You can take screenshots, and there are also preservation tools you can use.
If you think you’ve been the victim of anonymous defamation, you can contact the platform or website hosting service and request that it keep all the information about the accounts.
6. Can You Sue?
There are situations where you can sue for defamation online and on social media if it meets the standards listed above. You have to keep in mind that you aren’t likely to be able to sue the social media platform. Instead, it would be a lawsuit you file against a commentator or the individual poster.
Social media platforms have immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
7. Ask for Content to Be Taken Down Before You Sue
While suing may be an option if someone truly defames you online, it’s always better to go directly to the author and ask them to take down the post. This can be a less expensive and easier option, and if you let them know you’re thinking about pursuing a lawsuit, they may be willing to get rid of it.