Online reviews are a critical bridge to customers for online sellers. And under that bridge lurk online trolls. So what do you do when trolls attack? According to Kevin R. Heaphy, an attorney with Ryley Carlock & Applewhite in the US, legal action should be your last resort.
Suing online trolls is expensive. Plus, the vast majority of online comments and reviews are protected as free speech. If someone doesn’t like your crochet monkeys, it’s their constitutionally protected right to express that. What kinds of trolling might not be protected?
- Posting false reviews or comments. (Proving falsity requires distinguishing between fact and opinion.)
- Conducting a smear campaign to harm a business or induce employees to quit.
- Posting employee reviews that disclose trade secrets or confidential information.
- Creating a website impersonating a company to attack the business.
With those troll-ish behaviours in mind, here are three tactics Kevin recommends you undertake …