A user who wrote a critical review of a coffee business on Google Reviews has been threatened by the business with prosecution. Moreover, the comment did not even contain insults. As such, the business was exposed to lynching by internet users.
on twitter inspect The issue, which came to the agenda with the complaint sent to the account named , brought many question marks to mind. “Can I be sued for any comment about the business?” Questions like these are now being asked more and more to lawyers.
This type of business response has been on the rise lately. In fact, businesses want to deal with spam comments or unfounded slanders from competitors, but by responding to even simple critical comments. in the focus of reactions they are. Actually, this case is a good example on the subject.
In this complaint, which came to the Twitter account Inspect, it seems that a business has overreacted.
After this event became the agenda on social media, the business score dropped from 4.8 to 3.3.
So while the business actually has a pretty good score, in a way, he shot himself in the foot.
After the last tweet sharing, the business score has dropped to 2.8. It seems to decrease further as the reactions continue.
Although he did not go to the business The number of people who gave 1 point just because of this issue is quite high. Although the company is unfair in this regard, this type of spam comments It can also be used maliciously. A grouping audience can defame any business they want.
Google policies are also important. If a comment is thought to be unfounded or insulting, it is possible to apply to Google.
If the review leading to moderation does not comply with Google policies, it is removed. “Warn-remove” system available, this applies to both the workplace and the person making the comment.
So what does the law say about the relationship between user reviews and businesses on Google Reviews or any platform?
We asked lawyer Çağatay Üsküdar about the questions. The following questions will be answered soon:
- As in this example, even if there is no swearing in the content of the comment, can the business complain just because it contains criticism?
- What happens to the reviewer if the business actually complains? Because even if the commenter is right, he will not want to deal with going to give a statement and hiring a lawyer.
- In what types of reviews can the business win the case? What penalties are given to the commenter who is found guilty as a result? What should be considered when writing comments?
- If a comment has been written about a bad order, can the user be asked to prove it?
- Are bad reviews by competitor companies frequent? How are these detected? What’s the punishment?
- Even a bored person can write any comment they want. How can this be prevented? Are businesses threatening to take legal action because they are fed up with this situation?
- Can future regulations be made for businesses’ exposure to spam comments? What are the clarifications on this?
- Users may be afraid of these answers from businesses and give up writing negative comments. Although the business scores are apparently high, the score of that business drops even more in the minds of users who see these reviews. Don’t businesses suffer even more for the sake of a point?
- In the near future, can users be prevented from writing comments in a legal scope in terms of damaging the brand?