Why not to click on defamatory links

When something has been written about you or your company on the internet and you are a victim of online defamation it is probably your natural instinct to keep clicking on the defamatory link.  Do yourself a favor and try not to - the more times the link is clicked, the more popular it will become and the more visible it will be to others.

Avoid telling friends and family about the website that contains the negative posts as they are likely to check the link out even if you tell them not to.  You want to try to keep this issue to yourself as much as you can to reduce the number of clicks the website receives.

Clicking on the link that contains the defamatory material unfortunately makes it more powerful.  Search engines give priority to popular links. So every click ... read more on why not to click on defamatory links at the Internet Law Centre.

5 essential steps to follow when dealing with online defamation

Online defamation

It is never easy to decide what steps to take when you have discovered that you are being defamed online. You search the web and find various PR, SEO and reputation management specialists who claim that they can help but which do you choose?

It is vital that you remain focused and act appropriately when dealing with internet defamation. You do not want to damage your reputation further nor do you want to draw more attention to the original defamation.

Here I have put together 5 easy and effective steps to help you in response to your online defamation issue:

1) Be proactive. Consider using blogs to try and push the defamatory web pages out of public view. You do not have to be a writing expert to begin writing about yourself or your company. Google enables people to set up free blogs and these can be quite effective in communicating your message and enhancing your online reputation. If you... read more on online defamation and the other steps on our new social media solicitor blog.

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.