Travellers could be sued for hotel rants
We read:
"Travellers who post scathing reviews or comments about hotels or restaurants could be exposing themselves to long and costly legal battles. Media lawyer David Poulton, from MinterEllison Lawyers, said people making defamatory comments on sites such Tripadvisor and Twitter have little protection from the websites concerned.
He said there had been many cases where restaurant reviewers had been sued for harsh reviews in newspapers and magazines, and amateurs were also vulnerable. "There's plenty of cases where what's been published on the internet has led to defamation proceedings," Mr Poulton said.
"In cases involving defamation law in some ways the exposure to damages might be the least of their worries because they're often extremely expensive and time consuming. They can drag on for months, if not years.
Associate Professor Barbara McDonald, of the University of Sydney, said people could be subject to the defamation laws of any country where their comment was downloaded. "You could be subject to multiple defamation laws," she said. "Your comment must be based on true facts and it's often hard to prove truth so you have to be careful. "If you said a hotel was infested with cockroaches and it wasn't that could be defamatory."
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12 comments:
Counter sue (I’m sure there might be a few lawyers willing to take the case without prepayment. Legal theory of deep pockets). Although luckily in the US, there is precedent that we can ignore foreign defamation or libel cases that are contrary to our customs and freedoms.
So, now opinion is illegal?
"If you want to solve the worlds problems, you must first start by killing all the lawyers"..... Shakespeare
In the past a business would invite an unsatisfied customer to come back, give them a free room or a deep discount, give them a good experience and turn them into a fan of the business.
Now they just sue, so sad.
In the past a business would invite an unsatisfied customer to come back, give them a free room or a deep discount, give them a good experience and turn them into a fan of the business.
So let's say that you and I run restaurants that are in close proximity to each other.
I tell all my friends to go to the local restaurant review site and write that they had a horrible experience at your restaurant. They write that you kept looking at their children and it freaked them out. They write that the food was horribly prepared and over priced. They write that the bathrooms were filthy and bugs - living and dead - in them.
Customers stop coming into your restaurant and I make out like a bandit.
There are two problems with this. First, the dirty tactics of lying against one business is morally wrong. People and businesses have the right to protect their reputations. While a person has the right to utter or type defaming comments, the defamed party has the right to sue them for their comments.
The second thing is that in an odd twist, businesses have long lied and misrepresented their services and products to the consumer. The Supreme Court says that this type of "puffery" is legal.
I have no problems with someone who had a bad experience in a business writing a legitimate, negative comment. I have no problem with "puffing up" that compliant to an extent. As an example, if I see a couple of roaches in the bathroom of my hotel, to say that the hotel is "roach infested" is not technically correct, but it should be allowed within the same "puffery" that businesses take advantage of.
Lying and misrepresenting what a business does is wrong and is actionable.
"Lying and misrepresenting what a business does is wrong and is actionable."
---I agree with that, but what's your take on issues that are subjective, such as the quality of the food? If I eat at your restaurant and I say that your food was horrible, how are you gonna prove that I'm wrong?
Now if I say the bathrooms are filthy and roaches where everywhere, then you can win if that wasn't the case.
Imagine if American Airlines started suing every passenger who had a bad experience and wrote about it. From their point of view, as long as they give you a seat they've done their job. From my point of view a great flight involves 1. A cheap first class upgrade. 2. Food on the flight (not peanuts). 3. A movie or some other audio entertainment. 4. Magazines to read. 5. Not getting stuck on the runway for more than an hour. So if I write a horrible review based on my flight experience, I'm not defaming them, I'm stating an opinion which enjoys the highest protection of free speech.
---I agree with that, but what's your take on issues that are subjective, such as the quality of the food?
Please read the second to last paragraph of my post.
"Please read the second to last paragraph of my post."
I did, and I quote:
"I tell all my friends to go to the local restaurant review site and write that they had a horrible experience at your restaurant. They write that you kept looking at their children and it freaked them out. They write that the food was horribly prepared and over priced. They write that the bathrooms were filthy and bugs - living and dead - in them."
---I don't know what kind of person would tell his friends to write horrible reviews against the competition. And I don't know what kind of people would actually do that for free. But if I go to a restaurant and say that your food was horribly prepared and overpriced, you can't sue me and expect to win. You're also going to have to convince a judge that I did not see a cockroach in the bathroom. The "horrible experience" is subjective, as for "looking at your children" that can also be subjective in the sense that overprotective parents may interpret any stranger that looks at their kids as a pedophile.
Either way, you're gonna have a hard time in court.
I did, and I quote:
Then why are you quoting another paragraph?
"Then why are you quoting another paragraph?"
---I thought that was the paragraph you where talking about.
---I thought that was the paragraph you where talking about.
I repeat: "Please read the second to last paragraph of my post."
I like paragraphs.
There are several defences to allegations of defamation available in Australian law however, I wouldn't want to get sued in the first place, let alone try to rely on the defences.
That said, you can't really stop anyone from issuing proceedings.
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