Why Suing Yelp For Defamation Is A Bad Idea
This is a guest blog post by internet defamation attorney, Adrianos Facchetti
It seems people are suing customer review sites for defamation based on negative reviews like gangbusters these days. Recently, a pediatric dentist sued the parents of a boy the dentist allegedly treated after the parents posted a negative review on Yelp. The dentist also sued Yelp.
But suing customer review sites for defamation is usually a bad idea for a number of reasons.
1. The Law Is Against You
The Communications Decency Act of 1996 (”CDA”) is a federal law that is extremely protective of online speech. It was originally intended to regulate pornography on the Internet, but later was interpreted by courts to immunize Internet service providers, like Yelp, from torts committed by users of their systems. Specifically, it says:
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
This means generally that a plaintiff cannot sue the operator of a site for defamation for comments made by a third party. However, if a site operator encourages the defamatory speech or alters the meaning of the speech, they may be determined to be an “information content provider,” which means that they wouldn’t be protected under the CDA.
The overwhelming majority of courts have granted CDA immunity to customer review sites.
2. You’re Outmatched
A customer review site like Yelp or Rippoffreport, for example, typically has access to lots of money and other resources. This means they usually have in-house counsel who deals with these types of claims all the time. In contrast, your attorney will likely have little to no experience handling an Internet defamation case.
3. You Become The Target
These kinds of lawsuits attract the attention of public interest groups who believe that Internet speech deserves greater protection than speech in other places. In many cases, these groups will defend or assist a website pro bono. In some instances (not all) you become the target. Customer reviewers may begin to comment on the situation on the site itself or other places in the Internet, which can greatly damage your reputation. Or, the public interest group will spearhead a campaign against you.
Now don’t get me wrong . . .
I’m not saying you should never file a defamation lawsuit against a customer review site. On the contrary, there are some limited circumstances where it is absolutely necessary to take action and file a complaint. However, this should be done only after you’ve considered all your available options, and after you’ve consulted an experienced internet defamation attorney.
February 20th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Agreed! As you point out, suing Yelp will likely (1) reveal that you haven’t heard of Section 230; (2) get you chastised on the Tech. & Marketing Law blog (and/or many other blogs); and (3) cause the Citizen Media Law Project, Public Citizen, and other well-resourced groups to jump in. It will also draw attention to the bad review and just expand its reach.
The really tough part would be explaining the resulting storm and bad press to the client.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Let’s not leave anyone with the mistaken impression, however, that there is any reason not to sue the person POSTING a defamatory (i.e., “false and defamatory”) claim on a customer review site. Of course, you may not know who they are. But a customer kvetch site’s ability to refuse to respond to a subpoena that could reveal at least clues to that identity via a bona fide John Doe action — depending on the state — is orders of magnitude weaker than its ability to overcome a direct action against the site itself.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I definitely agree. As Adrianos has pointed out I think this dynamic increases the costs of bringing a defamation action since you are going to have to spend some energy and face some public interest/court scrutiny out of the gate. I guess some states already have a mechanism for this in the form of SLAPP statutes?
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Also, Most review sites will remove any blatent negative comments if you ask niceley. people are so quick to sue these days, I think it’s good they have laws like this.
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
[...] consumer might review them negatively. As evidenced by this post, many immediately consider suing for defamation if the review is negative and/or less than completely [...]
August 21st, 2009 at 12:17 am
This blog seems to concern honest negative opinions. What if it can be demonstrated and documented that the review is false? What if the review can be shown to have come from a competitor or a disgruntled employee? Can the site be forced to reveal the identity of the reviewer? If sufficient information is provided to the site to establish that the review is false, is that site obligated to remove it, and liable for damages if it does not? The laws governing free speech originated in an era when the source was difficult to hide. This is critically different from the electronic anonymous speech which proliferates today, and the ease with which it can be used destructively.
October 11th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
How about suing them for NOT including reviews? We have had about 20 reviews posted to their site, which would give us (I think) a 4 or 4.5 star ranking. However, only 4 of the reviews are appearing and being included in our stars (3 one star and 1 two star review).
Isn’t the very act of deciding which reviews are “acceptable” – and which aren’t – a form of speech? Isn’t deciding that all of the positive reviews are “unacceptable” therefore a form of defamation?
April 30th, 2010 at 12:00 am
How most suing them for NOT including reviews? We feature had most 20 reviews posted to their position, which would pay us (I believe) a 4 or 4.5 player ranking. Nonetheless, only 4 of the reviews are appearing and beingness included in our stars (3 one principal and 1 two thespian think).
May 1st, 2010 at 8:08 am
Can a customer/reviewer of a store listed on Yelp be sued by the owner for giving them a bad review? Some owners are threatening Yelp reviewers with Legal Action or demanding that they take down bad reviews or else they will sue them!
Also, some store owners on YELP harass the reviewers in their personal in boxes with threatening notes.
What court would a business owner go to the show that a reviewer in ruining their business reputation? How could they prove that one review has the power to ruin their business? Also, what if there are many other bad reviews that were posted does the owner then have to sue all of the bad reviewers on YELP?
July 8th, 2010 at 3:56 am
Some owners are threatening Yelp reviewers with Legal Action or demanding that they take down bad reviews or else they will sue them!