Online defamation can take many forms, from unfavourable or unsavoury publications being released through major news outlets to cybersquatting and negative content that is posted on review websites.
These incidents can have a devastating effect on both personal lives and business continuity. Reaction must be swift so as to prevent situations from worsening. First there should be an appropriate response to the event, followed by the implementation of an effective strategy for its containment and which will include measures to reverse the damage.
It is often the case that if one chooses to ignore the appearance of a defamatory online publication it will rapidly escalate until it becomes a much costlier endeavour in terms of lost business or personal reputation as well as the added time, effort and expense that are then required to be spent in order to regain trust and confidence.
Online defamation can materialise from a variety of sources such as:
- Customer complaints being ignored.
- Malicious competitors.
- Disgruntled employees.
- Tabloid journalism.
- Impersonators.
- Blackmailers.
Unfortunately this list becomes rather extensive as online platforms become more numerous and open to anyone with a grievance or who may be actively seeking to inflict damage to somebody else's reputation.
At Great Online Reputation the way in which we handle an instance of defamation can differ significantly with each individual case. A major factor to be considered is whether the defamation has occurred as the result of a legitimate complaint and also to ascertain whether a story is proven to be true as opposed to having been falsely interpreted or completely fabricated.
Another key factor will be whether the party initiating the defamatory content online can be identified or have taken steps to remain anonymous.
In the majority of cases, the initial priority for us will be seeking to take down the defamatory material, most typically by either persuading the host of the particular web resource concerned to remove it or by convincing the initiating party to take it down voluntarily. We will also consider employing any appropriate legal procedures that may be called for should reasonable co-operation with our endeavours not be forthcoming.
If these actions prove to be unsuccessful or unenforceable we will implement the necessary measures to decrease visibility of the defamatory content, usually through the use of processes that will ensure it is significantly relegated within any search engine result rankings, when linked to your name, brand or business.
