I am a victim of online defamation - do I need an injunction?

This is the question we are regularly asked at the Internet Law Centre and the answer is quite often no.

Many victims of online defamation assume that they need an injunction to facilitate the removal of the defamatory web pages that damage their reputation. Although an injunction is one solution for your issue, obtaining one is costly.

Often, web pages containing defamatory material are removed as a result of issuing a legal letter and through negotiation.

However, it is likely that search engine providers such as Google and Bing will ask for a court order before they consider removing a defamatory web page unless we can specifically state that the web page is published in breach of their own terms and conditions of use.

In 99% of cases that we recently came accross, Google had removed defamatory web pages after receiving a claim form and this normally meets the objectives of our clients. This means that there might not be a need to pursue the claim further and that an injunction is no longer needed.

Read more tips on how to deal with online defamation at the Internet Law Centre.