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Can Online Comments Get You Sued?

One Virginia woman has been named in a defamation lawsuit after posting a negative review of a contractor.

  • December 16, 2012

As more people rely on review sites to make decisions about where to eat and who to hire, businesses have grown more aggressive in their response to harsh comments.

The Washington Post reported recently that a Virginia woman was sued by a contractor in a $750,000 defamation case after she left a negative review about that contractor's work on Yelp, an online review site. A judge in the case issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the contractor, ordering the woman to delete some of her accusations.

Posting unproven allegations of illegal behavior is one practice to avoid. Watch the video to learn more about how commenting online has the potential to get you in trouble.

Related Topics: Defamation and online reviews

John Q. Public

8:09 am on Sunday, December 16, 2012

Good to know. If that rule had been applied to the Patch during the recent elections, comments wouldn't have been 1/2 as interesting.

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Mike F.

11:42 am on Sunday, December 16, 2012

I'm going to sue myself over this comment that I am posting now.

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Mike Shortall

12:00 pm on Sunday, December 16, 2012

People have to learn to be careful what they say, who they say it about, and how they say it. Too many people post fact-less, hysterical accusations and perceptions that can hurt reputations and - in the case of a contractor - affect livelihoods on-line.

And let's not forget those who purposely post misleading information and "complaints" against commercial competitors.

I'm proud to say I post a lot comments on-line and have never been sued ... yet. But I'm pretty careful about what I say and about whom I say it. So many people and companies are becoming more and more sensitive about what's being posted about them on the internet. Rightfully so in most cases ...

If you could somehow force people to post under their own, real names, you could end a lot of messy crap that goes on over the internet. Can't see that ever happening though.

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Josephine

7:25 pm on Sunday, December 16, 2012

Maybe the Editor should show some responsibilty and interview both sides to get the real facts.

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1

2:47 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Libel and/or slander can get you sued so if this woman made up lies about this man and his business, she could face a civil suit. That said, calling someone a jerk or f@#*er can NOT get you sued nor can making fun of someone or calling out a clown for making up BS political points online. This is covered by the 1st amendment. Libel against someone ie. accusing them of a crime or some other action that isn't true and can cause harm to their business or reputation is NOT covered by the 1st amendment however.

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