Trustpilot guideline: harmful or illegal content

The rule, in Trustpilot's words

Trustpilot's flagging reasons list five sub-reasons.

• Hate speech or discrimination. Content that "negatively targets people or a group of people based on who they are".
• Terrorism. Content that "praises, supports, or represents hate groups".
• Threats or violence. Content that "incites or glorifies harm", including "threats of harm, abusive behavior, and promoting self-harm".
• Obscenity. "Severe profanity, disturbing material, explicit adult content, nudity or pornography."
• Defamation. Content that "harms a person's or business's reputation and leads to significant financial loss".

What this rule does not cover

The same page is direct: "We won't remove a review just because you dislike or disagree with it, it criticizes your business, or includes swear words."

On defamation it adds that expressing an opinion "isn't defamation because opinions aren't statements of fact". Its Guidelines for Reviewers say Trustpilot takes a neutral stance in factual disputes and does not get involved unless the law requires it.

Evidence that supports a flag

• The words themselves. For the first four sub-reasons the evidence is the text. Highlight the threat, the slur or the explicit content, and nothing else.
• For defamation, three things. The statement of fact, proof that it is false, and the financial loss it caused. "We lost customers" is weaker than a cancelled contract that cites the review.
• The right sub-reason. Trustpilot assesses the sub-reason you choose. A threat flagged as obscenity can fail.

Examples

These examples are ours. They are written to show the rule and are not real reviews.

The required first step

There is none. You choose the sub-reason, read the guideline, highlight the content and submit. Trustpilot's step-by-step guide notes that these reviews are hidden during the assessment.

Because the review is hidden at once, this reason tempts teams to use it on reviews that are only harsh. Those flags come back as invalid cases on your public flagging record.

For health brands

Threats and abuse aimed at named clinicians and pharmacists are the usual real cases. Flag them promptly, and flag them whatever the star rating. "This medication is dangerous" is an opinion about a product. It is not a threat, and it is rarely defamation.

Where to go next

The main Trustpilot review removal page covers all five reasons and the evidence each needs. The qualification tool asks about this rule in its first two questions.

We do this work for clients through our Trustpilot review removal service, and the price per removed review is published.