The larger your business, the more exposure it has — and the more crucial your reputation becomes. Unfortunately, it has become all too easy for false statements to spread like wildfire, sometimes leading to irreparable harm.
Going back in time, it was much harder to negatively affect a large business through words alone. When communities were isolated from each other, bad news tended to take a long time to spread. Phones, the postal service, the press, radio and television eventually made communications easier, but it was still nowhere near as easy to harm a business through words as it is today.
The internet’s reach is vast
These days, individuals and other companies can spread falsehoods about your business from a phone or computer without much effort. Let’s imagine you own a chain of restaurants with establishments in several countries as well as nationwide. A diner at one of your restaurants could publish an Instagram post, a Google review or start talking about you on a live stream while they are still sitting there. Before you know it, that post could go viral and be spread throughout your area of service.
When your company is being targeted by false reviews or other untrue statements of fact, the reputational damage can be severe — and it is often intentional. It’s important to fight back. People are often quick to believe and share what they read or hear on social media, so defamation can spread far and do a lot of damage very quickly. Seeking prompt legal guidance can help you determine whether what some did justifies a defamation claim.