Practice Group

Internet Defamation & Content Removal Attorneys

Your reputation matters to us:

LAWYERS REMOVING DAMAGING CONTENT ONLINE

The internet is an ever-evolving public platform. As more information is published online, the potential for content-related issues expands exponentially. As a result, more people and businesses face dire content removal issues.

Whether you are a business or an individual, your online reputation is extremely important. When meeting someone new, one of the first things that people do is Google you. Whether you are applying for college, searching for a new job or simply pursuing online dating, you are likely to be Googled. Likewise, companies are often Googled before customers have any marketplace interaction with that business. Your search results affect your future and maintaining positive search results for your name or business is a reputational necessity.

When negative internet content shows up in your search results, the impact can be devastating. People tend to believe what they read on the Internet, even if it is false or inaccurate. Additionally, negative content has a tendency to spread rapidly. It can be quickly shared across social media platforms, scraped to other websites, and can even go viral. The more content spreads online, the harder and more time consuming it becomes to remove. It is imperative that negative internet content be removed as quickly as possible to mitigate reputational damages.

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Important to Know:

What is internet defamation?

Internet defamation occurs when someone posts false statements of fact about you on the internet that harm your reputation. Internet defamation can occur in a negative Facebook post, a harmful YouTube video or even a fake and negative Google review about your business. Online defamation can be removed from the internet.

How Can KJK’s Content Removal Attorneys help?

We assist in removing negative content from the internet

If you are dealing with internet content related issues, it is important to work with an experienced Content Removal attorney who can counsel you in selecting the best removal strategy for your unique situation. Our team of attorneys, cyber-investigators and public relations professionals work quickly and collaboratively to devise strategies to assist clients in tackling difficult and damaging content removal issues.

For more information on how KJK’s content removal attorneys work to remove specific internet content, check out our service pages on popular content issues:

Online Defamation
Negative Business Reviews
Blogger and Influencer Issues
Stolen Photo and Video Content
General Content Removal

Experience Matters:

KJK’s Attorneys are Experienced at Removing Damaging Internet Content

Just because something on the internet is damaging does not mean that it is online defamation. Nevertheless, damaging internet content may be able to be removed through other legal theories or methods.

At KJK, our content removal attorneys have experience tackling a wide variety of internet-related issues and have been able to remove difficult and damaging content from the internet on behalf of our clients. Our attorneys regularly work to remove content from search engines, social media sites, news platforms, blogs, forums, directory sites, shaming sites, pornographic websites and more.

We frequently provide content removal services for our clients, such as:

Removal of Defamatory Content
Updating, De-Indexing or Removal of Negative News Articles
Ceasing Internet Threats, Harassment and Hate Speech
Takedown of Personal and Private Information From the Internet
Removal of Negative Business Reviews
Copyrighted Content Takedowns

Blogger or Influencer Content Exploitation
Identifying and Removing Revenge Porn
Stopping Sextortion Attempts
Deletion of Impersonation Accounts
Identification or Unmasking of Anonymous Online Actors & Removal of Their Content
Mugshot Removal and Takedown From State Databases

Businessman looking busy working on laptop

Scenarios We Can Assist With

A Twitter user falsely Tweets that a person sexually assaulted them.
A TikTok user publishes an untrue and disparaging video about another individual, claiming that they committed a crime that they never committed.
A doctor receives five fake one-star reviews on their RateMDs page, claiming that this doctor committed malpractice when the doctor has no pending malpractice cases.
An anonymous Internet user publishes a post about a popular YouTube beauty blogger on Reddit, claiming that this blogger is an escort and makes her living engaging in prostitution.
A Facebook user falsely posts in a private group that a person is cheating on their spouse.
An Instagram influencer tells her followers on Instagram live to leave a one-star review on Google for a car dealership, falsely claiming that they engaged in fraudulent and unethical business practices. The dealership subsequently receives 50 negative reviews from people who have never utilized the business’s services.
A college student receives a naked photograph on his phone and posts the photo on the Internet. The photo gets scrapped (extracted and reposted) to various websites with the captions “cheater” and “slut.”

There are multiple ways we can help.

Our Content Removal Strategies

Our content removal attorneys use a variety of legal theories and content removal tactics to remove damaging internet content. This includes an intersection of defamation, privacy and intellectual property laws, as well as a knowledge of the terms of social media platforms. While content removal options widely vary depending on each individual situation, we typically use a combination of one or more of the following methods:

Reach out to the original poster and ask them to remove the content

Perhaps the most obvious way to remove internet content is to ask the person who published the content to remove it. This could look like a diplomatic reach out, an editorial inquiry or a cease and desist letter. The success of this method is largely dependent on the facts of your particular situation.

Reach out to the site admin and ask them to remove it

Another option for internet content removal is reach out to the administrator of the website and ask them to remove the content. A site administrator maintains editorial control over the content published on their site and can choose to keep something published or delete it. Typically, a site administrator will not remove content without a compelling reason.

This method typically works best with news publications if the article is outdated, or if crimes reported on have been dismissed or expunged but can also work for removing content from other websites.

Reach out to the site admin and offer to pay their processing fee

Some websites will remove offensive or negative internet content if you pay them a processing fee for their time. Sites that typically accept processing fees in exchange for removal include cheating and shaming sites. While it can feel unpleasant to pay to remove negative internet content, this is often easier and more cost-effective than filing a lawsuit.

Report the content to the website for a community guideline violation

User-generated content websites and forums typically have set guidelines for content that they will and will not allow on their sites. Content that does not follow a site’s listed guidelines can be removed.

Reach out to Google and ask them to remove the content from search results

While Google can be strict about removing content from internet search results, they have zero tolerance policies for certain types of content, like spam and revenge porn. This method can be extremely helpful in removing harmful content from being searched by casual internet users, however, Google does not have the ability to remove the infringing content from the actual website.

Send a DMCA takedown notice

Certain types of internet content, like images, can be removed if you own the copyright. An attorney can help you negotiate for purchase of the copyright and submit takedown requests to remove the content.

Ask the website to add a no-index tag to the URL of the content you want removed

If a website does not want to remove content from the underlying website, they still have the ability to remove the content from search engine indexing. Content that has been deindexed will only show up if an internet user already has the URL to the content saved, or if they search the actual website for the content. This can be an effective tool if a website has declined to remove content but is still willing to offer relief.

File a lawsuit and receive a court order

Content can also be removed pursuant to a court order. You can only get a court order by filing a lawsuit. An attorney can help you determine if you have legal claims so that you can attain a court order mandating that content be removed.

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Content Removal Frequently Asked Questions

Where does online defamation occur?

Online defamation commonly occurs on the following platforms:

Search Engines (Google, Bing, etc.)
Social Media Sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok)
Forum Sites and Online Message Boards (Reddit, Lipstick Alley)
Blogs and Vlogs (Youtube, WordPress)
News Outlets
Shaming Sites (TheDirty.com, TagYourSponsor.com)
Review Platforms (Google, Yelp, RateMDs, Ratemyprofessor)

What are common defenses to defamation?

There are three common defenses to claims of defamation:

The statement is true or substantially true
The statement is opinion
The statement is privileged (for example, statements made in the context of court proceedings are protected from defamation suits

The negative internet content about me is true. Can it still be removed?

Yes. Content does not have to be defamatory to be removed from the internet. Contact us to learn more about your content removal options.

When is a lawsuit warranted?

Sometimes, the only way to get content down is by filing a lawsuit to attain a court order compelling a person or site to remove content. Additionally, filing a lawsuit may be your only option if you are being defamed by an anonymous person. If the person defaming you is hiding behind a pseudonym, you may not be able to ascertain their identity without the subpoena power of the court.

Do I need an attorney if I am being defamed?

An attorney can seek a court order to have content removed. While you can hire a suppression expert to push down negative content, this is often costly and is only a temporary fix. Typically, the suppressed negative content will pop back up in the top of your search results after you stop working with the suppression specialist. Our results have a lasting impact.

Do I have to file a lawsuit to get content removed?

You do not need a court order to remove content from the internet. There are numerous other ways to remove content, for example, content that violates the community service violation of a website can often be removed by reaching out to the website administrator.

What platforms have you removed content from?

We have worked with content creators and influencers on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram to tackle damaging internet problems and repair damaged reputations. We have also removed content from forum sites and gossip forums like Reddit and Lipstick Alley.

What do I do if I don’t know who published my content?

KJK has a range of investigative tools to assist victims in potentially identifying their perpetrators. While a victim will need to eventually identify their attacker to collect damages, they will not necessarily need to identity their attacker to remove the harmful content from the Internet.

Internet Defamation & Content Removal

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