[Legal Guide] How to Legally Respond to Malicious Reviews about Companies
Article posted in 2024-12-02 17:09:17 | VEAT
Have you ever looked up reviews of a company on a workplace review website to find employment information or workplace information?
Recently, workplace review websites have become an important source of information for job seekers and employees. Employees and job seekers can use these corporate reviews to find information about corporate culture, working environment, and benefits. However, these corporate reviews are not always based on truth, and there is a possibility that some reviews may defame the company’s reputation with false information or excessive slander.
Since malicious reviews can have a devastating impact on a company’s image and reputation, a timely and appropriate response is necessary from the company’s perspective. How can you legally respond to false statements or defamatory reviews?
Law firm Veat provides legal consultation based on the Information and Communications Network Act and legal provisions related to defamation regarding disputes arising from corporate reviews.
Is it possible to request deletion of corporate reviews?
According to Article 44-2 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (hereinafter referred to as “the Information and Communications Network Act”), if a person’s rights, such as privacy infringement or defamation, are infringed upon by information publicly disclosed through an information and communications network, the person whose rights have been infringed can request the information and communications service provider who processed the information to delete the information or post a rebuttal.
The company should carefully examine the specific content of the corporate review and, if the review infringes on the company’s rights, consider requesting the website operator to delete the review.
In fact, there have been cases of dispute regarding whether illegal responsibility arises from the failure to delete a review, even after requesting deletion of a review posted on a for-profit employment information sharing social media internet site that provides anonymous evaluation posts based on current and former employees.
Could defamation charges be brought against the individuals who wrote the corporate reviews?
Article 70(1) of the Information and Communications Network Act states, "A person who publicly discloses facts through an information and communications network with the purpose of defaming another person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for less than three years or a fine of less than 30 million won," and Article 70(2) states, "A person who publicly discloses false facts through an information and communications network with the purpose of defaming another person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for less than seven years, suspension of a right or license for less than 10 years, or a fine of less than 50 million won.”
That is, the Information and Communications Network Act punishes both fact-based defamation and false statement defamation through an information and communications network.
Regarding whether the term "victim" in the defamation charges stipulated in the Information and Communications Network Act includes ""corporations," the Supreme Court has ruled that defamation charges are brought against those who defame the reputation of a specific person or entity holding a certain personality (reference: Supreme Court Decision 99do5407, October 10, 2000), consistently pre-assuming that corporations are victims in defamation charges, and in the case of false statement defamation through an information and communications network, it has also ruled that "person" includes not only natural persons but also corporations (reference: Supreme Court Decision 2009do3696, October 29, 2009).
Therefore, companies can be victims of defamation charges under the Information and Communications Network Act, and if all the elements of defamation, such as 1) purpose of defamation, 2) publicity, and 3) elements of defamation, are recognized, a defamation charge in violation of Article 70 of the Information and Communications Network Act may arise, depending on whether the content is factual or false.
How should the company respond?
If a corporate review written about the company through an information and communications network is a baseless and defamatory review, the company should examine the specific content of the review to determine whether it could infringe upon the company’s social value or evaluation and consider various response options, such as requesting deletion under the Information and Communications Network Act or filing a lawsuit, and comprehensively consider the results. Corporate reviews can have a great impact on a company’s reputation, so a swift response to malicious reviews is more important than anything else.
The response plan may vary depending on the content and format of the corporate review, so if a response is required for malicious reviews about the company, it is necessary to have a review by a professional attorney who is familiar with the Information and Communications Network Act.
Law firm Veat has grown together with over 1,054 innovative companies, from early-stage startups to unicorn companies, providing legal assistance for various legal issues that may arise during the company's operation, such as reputation management, protection of reputation, and response to the Information and Communications Network Act. In particular, the attorneys at Law firm Veat, who are composed of experts with backgrounds in engineering and practical experience in advanced technology fields, have expertise in understanding and solving both technical and legal issues, and have successfully handled various cases involving legal issues arising from corporate reviews, including those involving defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.
If you need legal consultation regarding corporate reviews or legal advice during the operation of your company, please feel free to contact Law firm Veat.
Thank you.
Law firm Veat