‘More and more’ Australian businesses are suing bad reviews – and winning
Nasty critics need to be careful when leaving an online review as a defamation expert says there’s a rise in businesses suing – and winning.
A renowned Queensland lawyer says he’s seeing a mountain of work from businesses disputing online reviews, many of which he says are “super damaging” and potentially libellous.
His warning came after Google left a “racist” and “unacceptable” review of a popular Sydney restaurant live for a week, only removing it after an inquiry from news.com.au.
Ben Twomey, a specialist in dispute litigation and defamation law with his firm Twomey Dispute Lawyers, says he sees “more and more” clients seeking legal help to get reviews removed.
According to the lawyer, the sources range from trade rivals to influencers with defamatory reviews resulting in a “devastating impact on a business, especially in the hospitality area.”
“(In hospitality) you’ve got lots of competitors, and if you’re walking down the street you’re looking at reviews, you’re probably not going to go to the (businesses) with bad reviews,” he said.
“There is a heap of it – it’s really easy for people to get online and talk rubbish and think they’re doing it with impunity.”
However, they’re not. Mr Twomey says lawyers are often able to get in touch with troublesome reviewers and drag them into legal proceedings.
Significant legal resources, including pre-action discovery, are often required to get orders compelling the platform to hand over a user’s information – but it can be done.
Mr Twomey says this can be a costly exercise, though the damages from such reviews are also expensive.
While stating a notice of concern usually sees posts removed, chasing damages is possible.
“If the damage is done, you go after a damages claim by sending them a concerns notice and bringing an action under the defamation act against them,” he explained.
“The publication of things on the internet is about as wide as it can be. The potential loss claims can be big. You can expose (platforms) to liability too.”
He said the general strategy for his firm regarding reviews was first to “scare the life out of the other party without us needing to sue them”.
“If you can demonstrate you’ve suffered an actual loss due to a defamatory publication that’s been made, you can recover that,” he said.
“There’s also general damages where the court essentially looks at putting the right number of damage from it based on how serious the thing said was and the context in which it was said.”
On Thursday, news.com.au revealed a popular Sydney restaurant Hurricane’s Grill Circular Quay had been dealt a vile 1-star Google review which the platform had initially refused to remove.
Owner Laura Goldberg told news.com.au of her shock that the review had been left live for a week.
She said the staff member, targeted by words which took aim at her perceived race and appearance, “couldn’t believe that someone would say something like that.”
The business reported the review itself but Google deemed it OK.
“Thank you for raising your concern. We have accessed the review, and have not found a violation of our policies. Due to this, the review will remain visible,” the platform responded in a message seen by news.com.au.
After being contacted by news.com.au, Google confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the review had finally been removed, citing “unfortunate errors”.
“Our policies prohibit hate speech and we take violations seriously. We have removed the review from Google Maps. We use a combination of people and technology to enforce our policies 24/7,” a Google spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Even so, we know that no system will ever be perfect and unfortunately errors, as in this case, can occasionally happen.”
Mr Twomey says that for most businesses, the internet is “basically a shop front” and, unlike with bricks and mortar, negative comments can be crushing.
“People actually place trust in reviews … when they appear to be genuine, you believe it,” he said. “It’s super damaging to lots of businesses, and it isn’t just hospitality.
“For example, if you look at an accounting firm, if they miss the opportunity to deal with a client, they lose a client they could have had for years all because of a negative review – it’s dangerous.”
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Social media influencers are a new threat for businesses, with Mr Twomey revealing there were cases on his desk targeting creators from platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
He says influencers are looking for likes and follows and tend to do this with content that is “outlandish or sensationalised”.
“In a world where that’s a popular way to build their personal brand or image, everyone’s always looking for content,” he said.