Three Reasons Nasty Facebook Posts Are Usually Not Defamatory

People can be downright nasty about you or your business on social media, but unless their nastiness meets certain criteria, you probably will not be able to successfully sue them for defamation (libel or slander).

Here are three reasons that online trash-talk may not be defamatory:

1. Defamation usually does not include statements of opinion.  You or your business may have been defamed if someone publishes a false statement of fact about you.  Someone who is publishing their opinion may just be exercising their free speech rights.  In other words, when someone posts that the food they ate at your restaurant was not very good, they are very likely just posting their opinion.  By contrast, when they post that it was uncooked, or that they found a hair in it, they are probably posting a statement of fact.  While it is true that courts sometimes find statements of opinion to actually be statements of purported fact, the uncertainty is usually enough to encourage many lawyers to advise their clients they probably do not have a great lawsuit on their hands.  I have many clients who worry that unhappy customers may trash their business on Facebook.  Unfortunately, as long as they are posting either their opinions or statements of fact which are true, there is little these clients can do about the complaints other than try to mitigate them by working with their grumpy customers.
2. Defamation requires that the published statement is false.  Assuming that someone is posting a negative statement of fact about your business on Facebook, you only have an action for defamation if you can show that the statement they posted is not true.  It is not defamation if they are posting true statements.
3. Defamation requires that you have actually been damaged and can prove it.  Although there are some limited exceptions to this rule (when the statements deal with certain sexual issues), a person has not been defamed unless they can actually show that they have been damaged in some measurable way.  Even with damage to your reputation (or to the reputation of your business), you generally have to be able to show (prove) your damage to a judge or jury in order to win a defamation claim.  If you cannot show you have been damaged, you may not have been defamed.

Unfortunately, in this new world of online social engagement, reviews and opinion-sharing are ubiquitous.  Frequently, the best solution to negative social commentary about you is to attempt to repair the relationship with the customer.
If you feel you may have been defamed online, you should talk to a lawyer about your rights and remedies.
Click here to contact Darrell Phillips to discuss the facts of your potential case.