Fakes on the Internet – how to protect yourself?

Fakes on the Internet are intentionally disseminated false information with the aim of misleading and influencing public opinion in general (for example, regarding the goods, services of a certain company). Fakes differ from ordinary mistakes in that they are an intentional distortion of reality. The concept of fake in this context is also identical to defamation, which encroaches on the honor, dignity, business reputation of a legal entity, respectively. The spread of fakes on the Internet can have direct legal consequences in the form of material (unearned profit) and moral damage. In the article, we will dwell in more detail on what needs to be done to protect yourself.

Fakes on the Internet: main types

Fakes are created in various ways with the aim of provoking a certain reaction, compromising, undermining trust in a company. They can exist in all manifestations of the media space, in particular in the form of:

• articles, news in the media;
• edited photographs;
• audio or video materials presented as real;
• posts on social networks.

As a general rule, to recognize a fake, you need to make sure that, firstly, it has a pronounced emotional coloring, secondly, it does not have any links or refers to certain “anonymous” sources of information, and thirdly, it represents a one-sided coverage of a situation.

How do fakes on the Internet affect a legal entity?

Fakes on the Internet can have catastrophic consequences for a business, directly affecting its business reputation - one of the most valuable intangible assets of a particular company. As a rule, the consequences can be as follows:

• destruction of trust (product quality, business ethics, etc.);
• attachment to a negative image (persistent negative image of the brand, management);
• loss of potential customers and, as a result, potential income itself;
• difficulty attracting partners and investments in business development;
• initiation of investigations by law enforcement agencies (conducting searches, reviewing documents, temporarily seizing items, etc.).

How can you prove the spread of fakes (slander) on the Internet?

A large amount of unreliable information constantly appears on the Internet. It is especially fashionable to meet a lot of fakes on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, etc. It is worth emphasizing that the dissemination of false information will be considered a real violation if it:

• firstly, it is brought to the attention of at least one third party;
• secondly, it concerns a specific individual, legal entity;
• thirdly, it causes harm to personal non-property benefits, in particular honor, dignity, reputation.

The dissemination of fakes on the Internet makes it difficult to identify the author of the publication and the persons involved, first of all. Therefore, the main efforts of a business that has suffered from a certain defamation should be aimed at proving the link of the page or account to a specific person of the violator. This will also require interaction with the owner of the website or domain name. In addition, one should always remember the need for instant collection of evidence, since publications, posts and comments on the Internet can be irrevocably deleted by the user at any time.

Protecting a legal entity from fakes (slander): basic procedure

Protecting a business’s reputation requires consistent legal steps. This includes:

• properly recording evidence of the violation (must comply with the principles of sufficiency, reliability, appropriateness, and admissibility);
• obtaining certificates based on the results of researching the content of web pages from competent institutions and organizations;
  establishing the appropriate defendant, defendants (as a rule, this is the author of the publication himself and the owner of the media outlet, group, or site);
• preparing and filing a claim with a commercial court;
• proving the use of appropriate methods of pre-trial settlement and obtaining compensation for the violation (for example, according to the Law of Ukraine “On Media”, a procedure for submitting an application to the relevant media outlet to refute information within one year from the date of publication is provided).

Important to know! The statute of limitations does not apply to claims for the protection of business reputation, in particular in cases of refutation of fakes and defamation. However, it will be necessary to analyze whether the information is fake and does not represent the author’s value judgment. For more detailed information, we recommend that you request a consultation with one of our business lawyers.

How will our business lawyer help a company in the fight against fakes on the Internet?

A business lawyer (or defamation lawyer) specializes, among other things, in protecting the business reputation of a business. Therefore, his main services include:

• consulting support;
• proper recording of the violation;
• support for pre-trial settlement of the dispute (sending a request to remove the publication);
• drafting of statements of claim and other procedural documents for the court;
• full-fledged legal representation in a business case about the spread of fakes (defamation) on the Internet;
• appealing the decision of a local court in appeals or cassation.

Our lawyer will help not only win the case, but also recover damages from the violator and receive public compensation (public refutation of information).

To get a lawyer's consultation and find out the cost of his services in refuting fake news on the Internet about your business, fill out the form below.