Reputation Management and Defence
The Internet is an excellent forum for individuals and companies in the promotion and development of their personal, professional and business reputations. The recent explosion in social media makes it possible to communicate with massive audiences immediately. Most mobile devices can also send and record pictures or video clips with consummate ease.
However, the internet can be an equally effective tool in destroying reputations. An internet search will return all results, good or bad. The darker side of internet use includes personal attacks on individuals or their businesses. This can vary from bullying, to harassment and threats, or the posting of derogatory and defamatory comments designed to undermine an individual or business.
Once information is posted online, it can be extremely difficult to remove it. The internet does not question the truth of information that is put in the public domain. It has no regard for personal feelings. It does not discriminate between statements unwisely made in haste, and those that have been the subject of mature reflection. Such concepts are largely left to individual conscience and sense of responsibility.
We pride ourselves on our speed of response. With a Solicitor Advocate in our team, we can provide quick advice on all aspects of reputation management. We can also prepare and file civil court proceedings with considerable rapidity.
What we do
- Urgent Takedown of adverse content
- Strategic advice in relation to adverse content
- Court action and cease-and-desist letters
- Injunctions and Protection from Harrassment Orders
- Defamation & Reputational Issues
Contact: Paul Motion, Partner: prm@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939
Lynn Richmond, Partner: lyr@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939
Lauren McFarlane, Senior Solicitor: lmf@bto.co.uk T: 0131 222 2939
Experience
Challenging Facebook over a “Community” page which was in reality a forum for those with grievances against our client.
Challenging Twitter over abusive content directed at the Board of our client including photos stolen from our client’s website over which abusive remarks had been overlaid.
- Trip Advisor
Challenging Tripadvisor over an adverse review headed up with introductory comment disparaging our client’s business ethics.
Challenging Google and ten other search engines about automated search suggestions adding the word “suspended” to our client, a hospital consultant, who had never in fact been suspended.
- Fake adverse reviews
Acting for a car dealer against a review site featuring fake adverse reviews and a related site offering to take down the fake content for £1000 – matter referred to Police and Office of Fair Trading.
- False Accusations
Defending a client (falsely) accused of creating fake Instagram profiles to damage the interests of her estranged husband and his lover.
- Defamatory fake "reviews"
Obtaining a court order against a household name ISP, forcing them to disclose the identity of the person thought to be responsible for posting defamatory fake “reviews” about a Scottish business, on two American review websites.
- Complex domain disputes
Involvement in a complex domain dispute involving 2 Court of Session processes and 2 domain disputes processes with WIPO and Nominet for the transfer of disputed domain names. The Defender was quick to move the site around various service providers and jurisdictions adding to the complexity of the issues involved consequently.
- Acting for victim of internet campaign
Advising a professional who was the victim of an internet campaign spread across some twenty blog sites and social networking sites. A husband and wife team had constructed pages of abuse directed at our client including allegations of sexual professional misconduct and misuse of patient medical records. BTO obtained interdict orders against the defending parties and shut down the blog sites. BTO also obtained Protection from Harassment Orders, believed to be the first time a court has granted these in Scotland solely on the basis of abuse on the internet.
- Online harassment
Acting for a company, one of whose staff members, the Chairman’s PA, had been harassed by another staff member, he having become infatuated with her. When rebuffed, the male staff member, an IT worker, created a website which consisted of images of the lady’s head superimposed on other, obscene, images.
