Nowadays, it is quite normal to choose a restaurant, holiday apartment or product based on reviews on the Internet. Positive comments are more likely to take you to a restaurant than hateful photos of previous visitors. Product reviews also help make the almost endless abundance of online offers more manageable and avoid supposedly bad purchases. And you yourself may have already contributed to these reviews or at least toyed with the idea of referring to the relevant restaurant or store after an unsatisfactory visit on the Internet.
But as liberating as angry writing may be, certain limits should not be crossed in online reviews. In this guide we explain what is allowed for online reviews and which statements can lead you to serious problems.
Unfair criticism on Google – how to get rid of false reviews
Bad rating on Google and a review that made your hair stand still: a nightmare for any business. The truth is not always told on the Internet and fake reviews can quickly become a real problem for businesses. If your company is attacked in this way, you must take the initiative and delete google review. In this way, potential future customers can no longer be misled by these reviews and the image of the company on the web can be restored.
Beware of incendiary speeches – this is the red line for online reviews
At first glance, one would like to think that in a country with such a high degree of freedom of expression as in Germany, anything can be said and done on the Internet, whatever one feels. Even if freedom of expression enjoys a high level of protection in Germany, facts and therefore also allegations of facts are excluded from it. Therefore, care should be taken when making claims about a company that may not have occurred in this form.
This includes, in particular, the assumptions and exaggerations that are portrayed as real events on the Internet. Even small deviations from the truth are enough to open the door to civil litigation. If the company can demonstrate that it experienced a drop in sales due to a false statement on the Internet, this could quickly become very costly for the author of this review. In addition, the number of law firms that specialize in reviews of this type on Google, Facebook, and Co. is growing, and companies are becoming less and less tolerant of undue criticism on the web.
Freedom of expression is fully covered in your opinion, but it should also be referred to as such. Until then, however, the maximum of the so-called offensive criticism It is not bypassed.
It is defamatory criticism when one’s opinion is known only to defame the other person and no substantive discussion can take place. Other criminal offenses such as slander, defamation or false accusation are also taboo and, in addition to costly civil procedures, can also lead to serious criminal penalties for an online testimonial author.
So it is always best to only make correct statements online and maybe not send an angry written post after all.
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