Defamation and Online Reviews
Online reviews sit at the intersection of free expression and reputation, and both reviewers and businesses frequently misunderstand where the line falls.
The basic distinction
A statement of fact that is false and causes serious harm to reputation may be defamatory.
An honestly held opinion, based on facts that exist, is generally protected — provided it is recognisable as opinion rather than presented as fact.
Truth is a defence in most systems. A true statement, however damaging, is generally not actionable.
The practical implication for reviewers is to describe what actually happened and to frame conclusions as your view.
For reviewers
Stick to your own experience, accurately described. Keep evidence — receipts, photographs, correspondence — since truth is your defence and you may need to prove it.
Avoid stating as fact things you have inferred. Saying the food made you ill asserts causation you probably cannot establish; describing what you ate and that you were unwell afterwards is a different statement.
Avoid allegations of criminality or dishonesty unless you can substantiate them, since these are treated most seriously.
Threats of legal action from businesses are common and frequently do not proceed. That does not make them pleasant, and a review that is accurate and framed as opinion is a considerably stronger position.
For businesses receiving a negative review
Responding publicly, calmly and factually is usually more effective than any legal step. Prospective customers read the response as well as the review.
Do not disclose customer details in a response, which can breach data protection obligations and reads badly regardless.
Where a review is factually false, the platform's reporting mechanism is the first route, and platforms will remove content that breaches their policies.
Legal action against a reviewer risks drawing far more attention to the complaint than it originally received, and this dynamic is well documented.
Fake reviews
Fabricated positive reviews and fake negative reviews from competitors are both problems, and regulators in several jurisdictions have introduced or strengthened rules against them.
Businesses soliciting fake reviews face enforcement risk, and platforms detect and remove them at scale.
Where a business believes reviews are fake, evidence of a pattern is more persuasive to a platform than an assertion about an individual review.
Limits and practicalities
Defamation claims are expensive and carry short limitation periods in many jurisdictions, frequently a year.
Many systems require serious harm to reputation to be demonstrated, which is a meaningful threshold that excludes trivial complaints.
This article is general information and not legal advice. Defamation law varies substantially between jurisdictions.
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