How to protect your business's reputation

Recent press stories of individuals being threatened with jail for posting negative reviews on TripAdvisor has captured the headlines, but the position is far from clear for those who feel as though they have been victims of online defamation.

The law in relation to defamation is contained within the Defamation Act 2013, which came into force in January 2014. It outlines that for a statement to be defamatory, the publication of the statement must have caused, or be likely to cause, serious harm to reputation.

In the world of business, a statement is only considered defamatory when the damage caused to an organisation is likely to cause them financial loss. Businesses have argued this in recent times, suggesting that online comments were untrue or unjustified attacks on their reputation.