Online Defamation

Under the Defamation Act 2013, a statement is defamatory if it:

1. Is false (true statements cannot be defamatory)
2. Has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant. For individuals, this means real-world harm — loss of employment, social ostracism, or significant reputational damage — not merely hurt feelings.

Common forms of online defamation include:

• False negative reviews on platforms like Google, Trustpilot, or Tripadvisor
• False accusations of criminal behaviour or professional misconduct on social media
• Fabricated quotes or screenshots attributed to you
• Malicious blog posts or articles making untrue claims

Opinions are generally protected as "honest opinion" even if negative — a reviewer saying "I thought this restaurant had terrible food" is expressing an opinion, not a fact. However, presenting an opinion as a fact ("the chef deliberately used stale ingredients") could be defamatory if false and seriously harmful.

Before pursuing a defamation claim, you should be aware of the main defences available to the person who published the statement:

• Truth (Section 2, Defamation Act 2013): If the statement is substantially true, there is no defamation — even if it causes serious harm to your reputation.
• Honest opinion (Section 3): An opinion on a matter of public interest, clearly indicated as an opinion, based on facts that existed at the time, is protected.
• Publication on a matter of public interest (Section 4): A defence for journalists and commentators where the statement was on a matter of public interest and the publisher reasonably believed publishing was in the public interest.
• Privilege: Statements in court proceedings, Parliament, or certain other settings are absolutely privileged and cannot be defamatory, however untrue.

The Defamation Act 2013 and the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 provide a procedure for obtaining removal of defamatory content from UK websites:

1. You send a notice of complaint to the website operator, identifying the defamatory statement, explaining why it is defamatory, and requesting removal.
2. The website operator must, within 48 hours, either remove the content or pass your notice to the poster and ask them to respond within 5 days.
3. If the poster does not respond within 5 days or cannot be identified, the operator must remove the content to retain the protection from liability that the Regulations provide.
4. If the poster contests the complaint, the operator does not have to remove the content, and you may need to pursue the poster directly in court.

This procedure is most effective for UK-hosted websites. Major US platforms (Meta, X, Google) are not bound by UK regulations in the same way, though they may comply with formal legal requests.

If removal requests fail and the defamatory content continues to cause serious harm, a court claim may be necessary. Key points:

• Defamation claims must be brought within one year of the date of publication (Limitation Act 1980). For online content, each re-publication can start a new limitation period, but this rule is applied restrictively.
• Defamation claims are generally heard in the High Court (Media and Communications List) and can be extremely expensive. Costs often exceed £100,000 for contested claims.
• Before issuing proceedings, consider alternative dispute resolution — the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and the Internet Watch Foundation offer mediation options.
• Many defamation disputes are resolved through the service of a formal Letter Before Action — a letter from your solicitor setting out the defamatory statement, the grounds for claim, and the required remedy (apology, removal, damages). This alone prompts many publishers to remove content.