When it comes to dealing with ORM, everyone always has questions; usually very good ones -- we have answers. That's why we've created a list of the most common things people ask about and made it available here. So you may be surprised you might find out what you're looking for without having to go very far. Feel free to browse below. These are just a small number of the ways we can help at HopLite when ORM problems strike.
What is Slander?
Slander is part of defamation law. Slander, by definition is spoken untruths made about an individual or business that harms their reputation. In the United States, it is a civil matter, and falls under tort law. It's important to understand the offending words can also not be written down, if it was it would be Libel. Most importantly for Online Reputation Management, to fall under the definition of Slander in the US, the harmful statement made cannot be a statement of opinion. For example, if there was a hardware store and someone made the statement about them, “I went there and thought the service was horrible” then it is not Slander because that is a statement of opinion. However, not all statements as such are protected. For example, if there is a stated and verifiable “untruth” as part of a spoken opinion, such as if someone said about a taxi company, “I thought the service was horrible and the cabs didn’t even have state inspection stickers on them” then the second part of the statement could be considered Slander if in fact it could be proved that the cars did always have inspection stickers on them.
Slander can be very difficult to prove, and there are a lot of intricacies with the law, for example “protected” statements like those made in court do not qualify under defamation law. Usually, negative statements made in regards to Online Reputation Management (that is for example, negative statements about a company or individual) are not Slander, and fall under the auspices of free speech; however, be careful with the previous statement, there are some statements made against people in regards to ORM that do qualify as Slander. If you believe you’ve been Slandered the best thing to do is to contact a lawyer; they are the ones best qualified to determine exactly what is Slander and what isn’t, and if you have a case. You can have that person speak with us as well; we are always happy to speak and work with legal professionals if a legal solution is in fact warranted to deal with an Online Reputation Management problem. However, even if your specific problem does not involve defamation law and a legal solution cannot be made, please contact us anyway, as we can still handle it, and reclaim your Online Reputation. In fact, most cases we deal with cannot be dealt with via legal means (because they do not qualify), but can still be dealt with extremely effectively using Online Reputation Management solutions. Call us at HopLite today, and find out how we can help you!
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