Can you sue for a bad review?

What defamation is

Defamation is a statement that harms another person's reputation. Written defamation is libel. Cornell's Wex legal encyclopedia sets out what a claim generally needs:

1. a false statement presented as fact
2. communication of that statement to someone else
3. fault on the part of the person who made it
4. harm to reputation, or other damage the law recognizes

Defamation is mostly state law. The elements, the defenses, the time limits and the damages differ from state to state.

Truth is generally a complete defense. If the review is accurate, there is no claim, however much it costs you.

Fact or opinion

This is where most claims about reviews fail. Wex explains that a statement must generally be capable of being proven true or false. Pure opinion is generally protected.

Calling something an opinion does not always protect it. A sentence framed as opinion can still imply a fact that can be checked. And a statement of fact is only defamatory if it is false, which the business usually has to show.

Most 1-star reviews of health brands sit in the left column, or are true. They are not defamation. They are also not removable under Trustpilot's rules. Our guide to what Trustpilot will and will not remove covers that side.

Why the platform is rarely the defendant

Section 230 of the Communications Act says no provider of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another content provider. A review site hosts what reviewers write. In most cases it cannot be sued for it.

The same section protects a platform that removes content in good faith. So the law leaves the decision with the platform in both directions. It does not have to take a review down, and it may take one down. Our page on what Yelp, Glassdoor and Ripoff Report publish covers the sites beyond Trustpilot and Google.

The practical result is that a defamation claim is against the reviewer. If the reviewer is anonymous, the first step is a court process to identify them.

Letters, and the FTC's line

A cease-and-desist letter is a demand, not a court order. It is lawful when it rests on real grounds.

The FTC's review rule draws a line. Section 465.7 makes it a violation to use "an unfounded or groundless legal threat" in an attempt to stop a review being written or to have it removed. The same section covers intimidation and knowingly false public accusations. The FTC's questions and answers say legal threats must rest on legitimate grounds.

So a template letter sent to every 1-star reviewer is a legal risk for the sender. The civil penalty is up to $53,088 per violation.

Trustpilot has its own rule. Its Guidelines for Businesses say a business must never pressure, blackmail or threaten reviewers to write, edit or delete a review.

Contract clauses do not help either. A term that bans negative reviews is void under the Consumer Review Fairness Act.

What a lawsuit costs beyond the fee

Time. Flagging takes weeks. Litigation takes months or years.

Attention. A court filing is public. News coverage of a company suing a customer often reaches more people than the review did.

Health information. A telehealth brand that needs to prove a patient's statement false may need that patient's records. Those cannot be used in a public reply, and using them in litigation needs care and counsel. HHS settled a case in 2023 over patient information disclosed in replies to reviews.

Uncertainty. Even a judgment against a reviewer does not bind the platform in every case. Removal can still depend on the platform's own decision.

When a lawyer is the right call

• The review states something false as fact, you can prove it, and it has cost you real money.
• The review accuses you or a named clinician of a crime or of professional misconduct.
• The reviews are part of a campaign by a competitor or a former employee, and you need to identify who is behind it.
• Trustpilot has kept a review online that you believe is defamatory, and the harm continues.

In those cases speak to a lawyer who handles online defamation. Our page on flagging or a lawyer explains how the two routes differ. We are not a law firm, we have no referral arrangement with one, and nothing here is legal advice.

When flagging is the better route

Trustpilot can remove content under five reasons, and defamation is only part of one. Some reviews name a pharmacist, carry a promo code, describe another company or come from someone who never dealt with you. Those can be flagged without any legal claim at all. The main Trustpilot review removal page explains each reason and the evidence it needs. Our guide on whether review removal is legal sorts every method by what the law allows.

To see which of your reviews can be flagged, request a free audit. It returns two lists, and it will tell you if a review looks like a question for a lawyer.

This is the work behind our Trustpilot review removal service. You pay per removal, and the three packs and their prices are public.