We protect the company's business reputation. Protecting honor, dignity and reputation on the Internet Protecting the company’s reputation on the Internet

We live in the 21st century, and there is no need to convince anyone of the benefits of information technology. The President of the country and the Government are carrying out systematic work, as a result of which the Internet has come to every school, to a resident of the most remote corner of our country. Today we can talk about the commercialization of the Internet as an accomplished event. Indeed, almost every company has its own website on the World Wide Web. And many companies not only follow the trends of the times, but also try to really use them in their business. And there’s no need to say anything about e-commerce. There are more than enough online stores selling anything on the Internet.

A huge number of publicly accessible social networks, various forums, and chats have appeared in which our population of various ages and social groups communicates.

However, along with the benefits, the Internet also brought the opportunity spread negative information about a person. Along with business, all its attributes came into the virtual space, including unfair competition.

Often political strategists use the World Wide Web for black PR!

It seems to the boor that he is anonymous on the Internet, and under a virtual mask he can write whatever he wants. You can fearlessly offend or slander a person and there is no need to fear that anyone will find out the name of the offender or in any way force him to answer for his words.

Unfortunately, this opinion is largely justified. Few people dare to go to court and defend themselves, their reputation and their dignity. There are very few precedents in Russia for resolving disputes about online abuse. Some people don’t have money, some are lazy, some are afraid of being branded as a troublemaker. Many judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other lawyers are afraid to get involved in this type of case. And slander and insults are becoming more and more every day.

What to do, how to protect yourself from virtual tyranny?

So, let's look at what levers there are to influence boors and “woeful businessmen”, and how can you protect yourself from attacks on the Internet?

Firstly, every Internet user, of course, needs to know their rights as reflected in the legislative acts of the Russian Federation.

Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 21:

Personal dignity is protected by the state. Nothing can be a reason to belittle him.

Article 23:

Everyone has the right to privacy, personal and family secrets, protection of their honor and good name.

Article 34:

Economic activities aimed at monopolization and unfair competition are not permitted.

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 129:

Slander, that is, the dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation.

Article 130:

Insult, that is, humiliation of the honor and dignity of another person, expressed in an indecent form.

Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 152:

A citizen has the right to demand in court a refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation, unless the person who disseminated such information proves that it is true.

The rules of this article on the protection of a citizen’s business reputation are correspondingly applied to the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity.

Secondly, if there is an incident, you can follow the path civil protection, and in the direction criminal prosecution of the guilty person. Also, the law does not exclude the simultaneous use of these two ways.

Thus, the Law allows both citizens and legal entities to be protected from all the phenomena discussed above. At the same time, not everything is as simple as we would like.

To file a claim in an arbitration court or a court of general jurisdiction, you must know and indicate the defendant. Moreover, in accordance with paragraph 1, art. 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: Harm caused to the person or property of a citizen, as well as harm caused to the property of a legal entity, is subject to compensation in full by the person who caused the harm.

A problem arises - to protect your rights in court it is necessary to establish and identify the villain .

Let's say a citizen decides to seek protection in the direction of criminal prosecution. He comes to the police, they answer him - Article 129 and 130 are cases of private prosecution, go to court. Of those who reach the magistrate and receive a decision to initiate criminal proceedings based on the fact against unidentified persons, not many will find the strength to wait for the police to identify the attacker. Most likely, in the bowels of some police department, the criminal case will be dismissed for failure to identify the person subject to criminal liability.

The result is the same - the scoundrel has not been identified and, according to the law, there is no one to ask!

Dead end? No! In this situation, if this damages the business, the company’s reputation or the image of a business person, it is necessary to contact specialists. How can they help you, how will they try to be useful to you? It is known that any event leaves traces in the surrounding world. A good professional always knows where and how to find these traces.

Can we help you?

The association of security structures "Oskord" is, first of all, a team of high professionals. Among us there are competent lawyers and information security specialists. At the pre-trial stage, we will help prepare the relevant documents. Our consultations in each specific situation will help you obtain evidence. Your copyright, brand, good name today can be protected from any attacks.

You can find more detailed information about the work of the information security service in the “information services” section, or by calling by phone in Moscow.

The business reputation of a legal entity is one of the conditions for its successful activities. A citizen’s business reputation characterizes him as a worker (a professional in any field) and represents an assessment of his qualities that are significant for his demand in the labor market.

A “white” (clean) business reputation is of decisive importance for both large and small companies, and for citizens.

It is easy to spoil your business reputation on the Internet. Unscrupulous entities can use various tools for this: numerous forums, message boards, media feeds.

In practice, there are often references to the fact that such and such hosting is not of high quality, such and such a company is deceiving clients, etc. As a result, the reputation of a company that enjoys unflattering reviews is discredited, hence the loss of potential customers, financial losses, decline in prestige, share price, loss of business partners, etc.

In practice, the owners of Internet sites have no idea that their site can be used by third parties to discredit the interests of any company. Let's take, for example, an Internet site that provides free forums on business topics. Let's say, the discussion on the forum comes about a Company that, according to site visitors, provides low-quality services, its employees are not specialists, the Company does not pay bills, etc. Further, the Company uses a search engine to find these unflattering reviews, which are available to absolutely all visitors. Let’s assume that the Company is completely respectable, and all negative reviews are nothing more than fiction, lies, and slander. Who is responsible for this type of damage to business reputation? Website visitors? Or the owner of an Internet site? This example, by the way, is taken from .

So, let's turn to the current legislation.

Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides a citizen in respect of whom information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation has been disseminated, the right, along with a refutation of such information, to demand compensation for losses and moral damage caused by its dissemination. This rule, insofar as it concerns the protection of a citizen’s business reputation, correspondingly applies to the protection of the business reputation of legal entities (clause 7 of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The above does not mean that a legal entity can recover moral damages. Courts refuse to grant compensation for moral damage to legal entities due to the fact that a legal entity cannot experience physical or moral suffering, which is subject to compensation in the event of moral damage. At the same time, as the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation emphasized the applicability of one or another specific method of protecting violated civil rights to the protection of the business reputation of legal entities should be determined based on the nature of the legal entity. At the same time, the absence of a direct indication in the law of the method of protecting the business reputation of legal entities does not deprive them of the right to make claims for compensation for losses, including intangible ones caused by derogation of business reputation, or intangible damage that has its own content (different from the content of moral damage caused citizen), which follows from the essence of the violated intangible right and the nature of the consequences of this violation (clause 2 of Article 150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

That is, a legal entity, on the same basis as an individual, has the right to demand compensation for non-material damage.

In accordance with the norms of civil law, the protection of business reputation by refutation is possible if three conditions are simultaneously met:

Information must be disseminated;

The widespread information is not true;

The disseminated information must discredit the business reputation of the applicant.

To disseminate defamatory information means to communicate (communicate) it to a wide audience, several or at least one person. At the same time, the communication of information discrediting business reputation to the person to whom it relates is not considered dissemination. An assessment of the damage can only be made by the person to whom such damage was caused.

Untrue information is statements about facts or events that did not take place in reality at the time to which the disputed information relates. Information contained in court decisions and sentences, decisions of preliminary investigation bodies and other procedural or other official documents, for appealing and challenging which another judicial procedure established by law, cannot be considered as untrue.

Defamatory, in particular, is information containing allegations of a citizen or legal entity violating the current legislation, committing a dishonest act, incorrect, unethical behavior in personal, public or political life, dishonesty in the implementation of production, economic and entrepreneurial activities, violation of business ethics or customs business transactions that detract from the honor and dignity of a citizen or the business reputation of a citizen or legal entity.

Where to go with the intention of protecting your rights? The law does not provide for a mandatory preliminary request for a refutation to the defendant, including in the case when a claim is brought against the editorial office of the media outlet in which the above information was disseminated. At the same time, a citizen (legal entity) has the right to apply with a demand for a refutation of such information directly to the editors of the relevant mass media, and a refusal to refute or a violation of the procedure for refutation established by law can be appealed to the court (Articles 43 and 45 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Means mass media").

That is, a citizen (legal entity) whose rights have been violated has the right to go directly to court without first contacting the violator of rights.

The proper defendants in claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation are the authors of untrue defamatory information, as well as the persons who disseminated this information.

It must be borne in mind that if defamatory information that does not correspond to reality was posted on the Internet on an information resource registered in accordance with the procedure established by law as a mass media, when considering a claim for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, it is necessary to be guided by the norms related to media(Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 24, 2005 No. 3 “On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities”).

“If the disputed information was disseminated in the media, then the author and editors of the relevant media are the proper defendants. If this information was disseminated in the media indicating the person who was its source, then this person is also the proper defendant. When publishing or otherwise distributing defamatory information that is untrue without indicating the name of the author (for example, in an editorial article), the proper defendant in the case is the editorial office of the relevant mass media, that is, the organization, individual or group of individuals engaged in the production and release of this mass media information (Part 9 of Article 2 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Mass Media”). If the editorial office of a mass media is not a legal entity, the founder of this mass media may be brought to participate in the case as a defendant.

If the plaintiff makes claims against one of the proper defendants, who jointly disseminated defamatory information that does not correspond to reality, the court has the right to involve a co-defendant in the case only if it is impossible to consider the case without his participation (Article 40 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation).

In the case where information was disseminated by an employee in connection with the performance of professional activities on behalf of the organization in which he works (for example, in a job description), the proper defendant in accordance with Article 1068 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is the legal entity whose employee such information was disseminated . Considering that the consideration of this case may affect the rights and obligations of the employee, he can enter into the case as a third party who does not make independent claims regarding the subject of the dispute on the side of the defendant, or he can be involved in the case on the initiative of the court or at the request of persons participating in the case (Article 43 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation)" (clause 5 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 24, 2005 No. 3 "On judicial practice in cases of protecting the honor and dignity of citizens, as well as the business reputation of citizens and legal entities").

As judicial and arbitration practice shows, even if an Internet site is not registered as a media outlet, this fact does not relieve the site owner from liability for the dissemination of defamatory information on the Internet site that belongs to him, because the very possibility of posting such information is a consequence of the creation by the defendant, as the owner (administrator) of this Internet site, of the appropriate technological conditions (cm.).

Such information can be distributed on an Internet site even without its knowledge, for example, statements by third parties (for example, on forum pages, in comments to news). The defendant's reference to the fact that information in the form of messages is distributed not by the owner of the site, but by anonymous visitors, access to which is free, is rejected by the courts, because the owner of the site provides the opportunity for defamatory information to appear on its pages (for example, a forum).

So, if information discrediting honor and business reputation was disseminated on an Internet site (even when such a site is not registered as a media outlet), and it was determined in court that this information is untrue, such information must be refuted on the same Internet -website. The procedure for such a refutation, by analogy with the norms relating to the media, can be presented as follows:

The refutation must indicate what information is untrue, when and how it was disseminated by this site (by analogy with paragraph 1 of Article 44 of the Law “On the Mass Media”);

The refutation must be typed in the same font and placed under the heading “Refutation”, as a rule, in the same place on the page as the message or material being refuted (by analogy with paragraph 2 of Article 44 of the Law “On the Mass Media”);

It is possible to post the text of the refutation submitted by the plaintiff.

The burden of proving that the information disseminated is true lies with the defendant. That is, a citizen (legal entity) does not need to prove his integrity (refute discrediting information). However, such evidence may be prepared by the plaintiff as an additional argument.

In the event that the court decision is not implemented (not implemented), the court has the right to impose a fine on the violator, recovered in the amount and in the manner prescribed by procedural legislation, to the income of the Russian Federation (clause 4 of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, payment of a fine does not relieve the violator from the obligation to perform the action prescribed by the court decision.

Let us turn to judicial and arbitration practice on the issue under consideration.

Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated December 4, 2003 No. 508-O “On the refusal to accept for consideration the complaint of citizen Vladimir Arkadyevich Shlafman about the violation of his constitutional rights by paragraph 7 of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation”

Why online?

The image must be good everywhere. But if a seedy newspaper with a circulation of 2 thousand copies publishes material with unpleasant information about your company, then you will probably lose 2-3 real clients. But if something similar appears in a community of the same small number of subscribers, then one potential buyer will make it available to almost the entire target audience that uses the “global web.”

Also, everything that appears offline is almost always duplicated online today. But monitoring the virtual world and responding to any attempts to denigrate you is easier and faster!

The main tasks of protecting a company's reputation on the Internet:

• formation and maintenance of a positive image;
• creating transparent relationships with partners and clients;
• preparation of the necessary information field;
• sales promotion;
• growth of economic performance indicators;

Where and from whom should you protect your reputation?

The Global Web is a living organism that can give a lot to modern business. At the same time, this is where a powerful reputational threat lurks. New reviews and custom articles are constantly appearing, which may not even correspond to the real state of affairs.

Forums, blogs, social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Instagram, news resources - all these are places where defamatory rumors, facts or personal opinions about your brand, products or services may appear at any time.

Who can negatively influence the brand image:

• direct competitors;
• real consumers of goods and services;
• your staff;
• you yourself - releasing defects or offering low-quality services - giving news sites or clients a reason to talk badly about you.

SERM as the best tool for protection

Today, the functions of protecting a company’s reputation are successfully handled by an online tool such as SERM. Only by competently managing your image can you not only form a favorable opinion about your company, but also reliably protect its name from various attacks.

To avoid losing face, you need to:

• constantly monitor information;
• systematize any negative, distinguishing real consumer dissatisfaction from ordered black PR;
• respond to real problems in a timely manner, deal with slander from competitors;
• displace negativity from the TOP of search results;
• build up positivity about the brand and promote it.

Sometimes they work for years to create the right image, but you can lose it very quickly. And this will immediately affect the number of clients, their attitude towards you, and economic performance indicators! To avoid potential problems, it is better to entrust the functions of creating and protecting your reputation to professionals.

SERM services: image development, elimination of negativity

Removing negativity or SERM (or reputation management) is already a fairly popular and in-demand service. The concept has existed for quite a long time; every reputable company closely monitored its reputation.

The concept of reputation management includes monitoring and analysis of mentions of a brand, communications with the target audience, response to reviews and comments.

Key actions in working with online reputation include:

1. Dominance in search engines.

What will the user see when entering the company brand name into the search engine? Will this be the company’s website, links to official pages on the social network? Or pages with presentations and company portfolios. Or the search results will not contain information about the brand you are looking for at all, and the potential client will simply leave with nothing. The user's further actions depend on the search results.

To be visible in the market, it is very important to provide the audience with comprehensive information about the brand.

2. Search and analysis of mentions in search engines.

You can monitor mentions the old fashioned way, manually, by entering each query one by one and studying the results. But if a brand has been on the market for a long time, then you will have to spend a lot of time to view all the results. You may also miss comments on social media or forums.

A more productive way is to use a special service to search for mentions. Today there are a considerable number of them. They differ in quality of work, depth of monitoring, and tariffs. Therefore, it would be justified to outsource this service.

3. Creation and implementation of a PR strategy

To complement the existing information picture of the brand, it is important to develop a PR strategy for proper positioning and interaction with the audience.

Constant activity on social networks, publications of expert articles in popular sources, and descriptions of new products on the official pages of the brand will increase the loyalty of the target audience. All this will help you maintain a connection with your audience.

4. Working with negativity.

The source of negative mentions can be either a dissatisfied customer or an envious competitor; each of such reviews poses a threat to the brand’s reputation. But a competent reaction from a brand representative can neutralize the negativity. Promptness in reacting to negativity is another important factor. By reassuring the author of the comment, a brand representative can not only neutralize the negativity, but also confirm his expertise in the eyes of the audience.

5. Working with reviews.

Customer reviews serve as direct evidence of the audience's attention to the brand. And positive reviews are an excellent support for the company’s image. If such reviews are found during monitoring, you can place them on the company’s website page; they will only play in favor of the reputation. Reviews from real customers play a big role in the purchasing decisions of subsequent potential customers.

Social networks, thematic blogs, information resources, forums, etc. help in forming a positive business image.

Regular activity on these platforms will help keep your audience's attention. Creating a reputation as an expert through interactions with these platforms will only help strengthen the brand image.

7. Brand advocates.

The best brand advocates are satisfied customers. If there are any, you simply need to encourage them for reviews and comments regarding the brand. Giving a discount, a bonus, an invitation to a private event - all this will only increase the status of the brand in the eyes of customers.

Creating a reputation management strategy

Yeella specialists have been working with the reputation of companies in various areas for many years. During this time, it became obvious that the reputation of each brand does not depend on the quality of its product, service or professional staff.

First of all, reputation depends on the attention that brand representatives pay to it. Only a company whose image is regularly developed by competent specialists can develop in a profitable direction.

Work on reputation management begins with the selection of a responsible specialist.

A true reputation management specialist is already 50% of the success of the planned tasks.

An expert in Pr and SERM creates a work strategy, approving it with the customer.

In order for the strategy to optimally suit the needs of the company, it is important to initially conduct in-depth monitoring of mentions about the company on the Internet. You can simply enter the brand name into the search engine, or you can use professional services to monitor mentions (at Yeella, specialists combine both options).

Based on the information obtained as a result of monitoring and taking into account the goals that the customer expects to achieve, a set of measures to manage brand reputation is formed.

SERM comes into play, a set of actions through which the brand’s reputation is systematically improved and is under stable protection.

Work with reputation can progress in several directions:

• Saturation of online fields with positive information. Optimally suitable for young companies with little or no information about their brand on the Internet.
• Neutralization of existing negativity and work to prevent negativity in the future for companies that have been on the market for a long time and want to protect themselves from black PR.
• Comprehensive reputation management - active dissemination of positive information, work with opinion leaders; regular monitoring of existing information about the company and prompt response to comments on the network.

To work in each of the areas, a content plan is formed - a list of publications and materials that will be systematically published on trust platforms. Such materials include:

• press releases,
• review articles,
• information materials,
• positive reviews/comments

In the process of publishing the above-described materials, sites with negative information are gradually shifting to those search pages that users simply do not visit. Therefore, the negative will go unnoticed by your potential clients within a few months.

How Yeella experts work with online reputation:

• Regularly monitor mentions of the brand/company
• Neutralize negativity in search engines
• Create and develop a positive brand image online
• Publish articles, reviews, and positive feedback
• Control communication on social networks
• Promptly respond to new mentions of the brand
• They are always “on the alert” when it comes to dealing with reputation.

Do you want to start improving your company's reputation now? Just fill out the application form and Yeella specialists will contact you.

Speaking about negative reviews on the Internet, you need to determine what is meant by this wording from a legal point of view. In the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 3 dated February 24, 2005, paragraph 7 explains that the dissemination of information discrediting a business reputation should be understood, in particular, as information containing allegations that a legal entity has violated the current legislation or committed a dishonest act , incorrect, unethical behavior, dishonesty in business activities, violation of business ethics or business customs.

Determining the Proper Defendant

To determine the forms and methods of defense, it is necessary to identify several essential conditions that will help establish the proper defendant.

As a rule, a company whose business reputation is damaged cannot reliably identify the author of the review. And even if it is known, but there is no documentary evidence, the court will refuse to satisfy the requirements.

In paragraph 5 of the said Resolution, defendants in claims for the protection of business reputation are the authors of untrue and derogatory information, as well as the persons who disseminated this information.

Consequently, the proper defendant is not only the author, but also the platform on which such a review was left. But it is possible that the domain, as well as the server on which the site is located, is located outside the Russian Federation.

In this case, the appropriate defendant will be the Office of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications.

Which court should I file an application for protection of business reputation?

The Arbitration Procedural Code determines that only arbitration courts are authorized to consider cases of protection of reputation that takes place in the field of business and other economic activities.

Moreover, such cases are considered by the arbitration court, regardless of whether the parties to the dispute are citizens (individuals), individual entrepreneurs, or legal entities or other organizations.

However, if the dispute does not concern entrepreneurial and other economic activities, it is within the competence of a court of general jurisdiction.

Evidence of publication of a negative review

In courts of general jurisdiction (regional, global, city, etc.) and in Arbitration Courts (when the plaintiff and defendant are legal entities or individual entrepreneurs) rules apply: each party is obliged to prove what it refers to. Consequently, if you indicate the address of the review and a printout from the site, then in most cases the judge will refuse to attach the documents to the plaintiff, since the judge will not go to the site to check the accuracy of the statements.

It is more correct to contact a notary to record a negative review. This document is called the “Evidence Inspection Protocol.” The notary himself visits the site and records this in the form of descriptive text and screenshots. It is worth keeping in mind that not every notary does this. The cost of the service is from 6,000 rubles.

The applicant is not required to prove that the information corresponds to reality. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the responsibility to prove the accuracy of the disseminated information lies with the defendant. The plaintiff is obliged to prove the fact of dissemination of information by the person against whom the claim is brought, as well as the defamatory nature of this information.

YouTube video: evidence of negative information

With video things are more complicated. Along with the claim, you must provide the disk on which the video was saved. However, the defendant may claim that the plaintiff did not prove the fact of its publication on YouTube.

For example, the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory, in its decision dated February 12, 2016 in case No. A33-15606/2015, tried to make an official request:

“At the same time, during the trial, the defendant’s representative also stated the argument that the plaintiff did not prove the fact that the controversial videos were posted on the Internet on the YouTube website. By a ruling dated January 12, 2016, the court demanded information from the limited liability company “Google” about who the above videos were posted, who owned the account […] in the period from 05/01/2015 to 08/31/2015.

According to a letter from the limited liability company Google dated January 29, 2016, this organization does not administer the YouTube service and does not have the technical ability to provide the requested information. The YouTube service is provided by the American company YouTube LLC. All information related to the YouTube service is collected and processed in the United States by YouTube LLC."

However, the plaintiff in this case was a little lucky, since the court invited the defendant to provide an agreement with the provider in order to make him a request, but he did not provide such documents, and the judge took the side of the applicant, ordered the defendant to issue a refutation, but refused to collect 300 thousand rubles of moral and reputational harm, since negative consequences have not been proven.

Subjective opinion and unreliable review - what's the difference?

A common belief is erroneous that the person who wrote the review can interpret it as a subjective opinion. Actually this is not true. At the same time, the courts also make mistakes, but there are also courts of appeal and cassation.

In fact, if the information posted on the site is presented in an affirmative form, then it cannot be considered as a subjective opinion, since the distributor reported them as facts that actually took place. Accordingly, information can convince an unlimited number of people of something, and potential partners, clients and customers of the applicant form a negative opinion.

In relation to entrepreneurial activity, the criterion of defamation may include not only information about the obviously immoral and unethical behavior of a person, but also those that, although they do not indicate such behavior, still detract from the actual qualities (dignities) of a particular entity acting in business sphere, clearly underestimate the achieved (including economic) indicators, cast doubt on its competitiveness and market viability, which can negatively affect business relations with counterparties, reduce demand for the goods produced, that is, lead to an unfavorable economic result. However, there are exceptions . Thus, in 2013, the airline ticket booking service OneTwoTrip filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, where the defendant was the social network Vkontakte (case No. A56-61842/2013). The applicant asked to remove the group with negative reviews on the site, considering them unreliable and discrediting business reputation.

But the court did not agree with the plaintiff, recognized the information as the subjective opinion of the authors, and in addition, in its decision dated February 12, 2014, it indicated that the plaintiff had not confirmed that the reviews in the group related specifically to this company.

Perhaps the appellate authority would have considered it differently, but the complaint was filed in violation of the requirements and was returned without consideration.

Important! What requirements should be presented in the statement of claim?

In the pleading part, it is necessary to demand a refutation of the information in the same way in which the false review was made. That is, if it was in a social network group with pinning to the top line, then the refutation should be done in exactly the same way. In this case, it is advisable to indicate in the court decision a period within which the message should not be deleted.

As for moral and reputational damage, most often the courts refuse to satisfy such claims or significantly reduce them due to the lack of evidence that confirms or determines exactly the amount indicated in the claim.

(What methods does a commercial organization have to protect itself from the spread of defamatory information on the Internet, and what methods are available only through physical doors)

In the era of developed information technologies, which allow unlimited exchange of almost any information, an Internet user can both receive any information and, on the contrary, distribute it in full compliance with Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. For this purpose, bulletin boards, forums, blogs, personal pages, media feeds, etc. are used. Unfortunately, this also applies to information that harms the reputation of citizens or companies.

A damaged reputation in your personal life threatens quarrels with friends, divorce of spouses and other troubles. Business reputation, although an intangible asset, is closely intertwined with material wealth. Therefore, gossip can cause quite significant financial damage.

Damage to the business reputation of an organization can be caused by defamation in relation to the organization itself, its employees, or in relation to the products it produces or the trademark used, etc. For example, by disseminating false information about the introduction of bankruptcy proceedings. It is clear that negative information causes the company to lose a positive opinion about its business qualities in the eyes of consumers and partners, undermining their trust, making it difficult to plan activities, and reducing demand for the goods or services offered. As a result, business profitability drops significantly.

However, the law does not provide protection from all unpleasant information. It is necessary to distinguish between statements of facts and value judgments, opinions, and beliefs from defamation - the dissemination of false and disgraceful information.

A fact is something that can be verified or established. For example, the information contained in court decisions, decisions of law enforcement agencies and other official documents is completely true (decision of the Central District Court of Volgograd dated January 26, 2011 in case No. 2-954/11).

Judgments, opinions, beliefs are a person’s personal attitude to events, facts, his assessment of the quality of goods, services, and so on. By expressing his point of view, the author merely interprets the facts and expresses his emotional attitude towards them.

You can only request protection from information that:

• fictitious and did not take place in reality,
• stated in an affirmative form,
• is of a disgraceful nature
• widespread.

Untrue information is statements about facts or events that did not take place in reality at the time to which they relate. Judicial practice recognizes, in particular, the following false information as defamatory:

• about the commission of an offense or crime;
• about committing a dishonest act;
• unethical or dishonest behavior in business, personal or public life;
• about low economic and other indicators,
• about non-competitiveness.

Any information can be expressed in different forms: allegorically, figuratively or offensively. If an opinion is expressed in an offensive form, the victim can also demand protection of his reputation (decision of the Tuapse City Court of the Krasnodar Territory dated April 27, 2012 in case No. 2-237/2012). In this regard, the Supreme Court recommends conducting a linguistic examination or consulting a psychologist (paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Review of the practice of courts considering cases on disputes regarding the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, approved on March 16, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as the Review dated March 16, 2016)).

Ways to protect your reputation

You should start protecting your reputation by contacting the owner of the Internet resource or its provider. Thus, a site may have a moderator who monitors compliance with the rules established on it. If this is a platform for reviews, it is worth trying to resolve the conflict with the author of the libel online. If the site is registered as a mass media outlet (hereinafter referred to as the media), the victim can print a comment or retort to a previously published note or article. Correctly chosen words can not only neutralize negative statements, but also increase the company’s reputation rating on the Internet.

It makes sense to contact the provider directly when it is a Russian organization, and false information clearly violates applicable laws or ethical standards.

If it is impossible to protect a reputation peacefully, the victim can go to court with demands against the author of the note or the site owner (provider) (Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 21 of the Review of Judicial Practice of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 1 of 02.16.2017 (hereinafter referred to as Review No. 1), Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 07/09/2013 No. 18-P):

• about refuting information on the Internet;
• about removing information from the site;
• on compensation for losses caused by the dissemination of defamatory information (for example, a decrease in sales volume, refusal of counterparties from contracts);
• for compensation for moral damage (legal entities cannot make this claim). Instead, the company has the right to demand compensation for reputational damage;
• on recognizing defamatory information as false if the gossip was spread by an unknown person, as most often happens on the Internet.

Evidence and proof

If it is not proven that the information is defamatory, has been disseminated or does not correspond to reality, the court will refuse to satisfy the stated requirements (paragraph 4 of the Review dated 03/16/2016).

Plaintiffs often have difficulty presenting evidence to support the dissemination of defamatory information on the Internet. The Supreme Court clarified that the victim is not limited in any way in presenting to the court evidence of the dissemination of false information. The main thing is that they are relevant and obtained without breaking the law.

The victim can record the content of the Internet page by contacting a notary on the basis of Article 102 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries. As a preliminary interim measure, this allows you to quickly save controversial information, which can be deleted at any time by the author who posted it.

By the way, a properly designed screenshot can also serve as evidence. It should contain:

• address of the website from which the printout was made;
• signature and information about the person who made the copy;
• date and time of the image;
• organization seal (if available).

It is advisable to notarize the fact of publication of the Internet page and its screen copy itself (a snapshot of the Internet page).

By virtue of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the responsibility to prove the conformity of disseminated information with reality lies with the defendant.

If a company requires compensation for reputational damage, it must confirm (Article 65 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 21 of Review No. 1):

• the presence of an established reputation in one or another area of ​​business relations (industry, business, services, education, etc.);
• the occurrence of adverse consequences as a result of the dissemination of defamatory information, the fact of loss of confidence in reputation or its decline.

Other ways to protect the reputation of individuals

According to the Federal Law of July 13, 2015 No. 264-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” and Articles 29 and 402 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation,” citizens have the right to contact directly the search engine operator to remove them from issuing search links to unreliable defamatory information. Operators must do this out of court. Data is not deleted from World Wide Web resources. Only links to pages are destroyed. To completely remove information, you will have to contact the site owner.

It is possible to limit access to personal information in this way if information about the citizen:

• does not contain reliable information about him;
• violates the law;
• not relevant at the current time;
• has lost its significance.

If the name of the gossiper is known to the victim, you can file a complaint with law enforcement agencies.

Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for fines for libel from 500,000 rubles to 5,000,000 rubles. It should be understood that general statements that do not contain any indication of a false fact do not constitute libel. For example, the expressions “bribe taker”, “fraudster” and others.

As part of the criminal case initiated, a civil claim for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation may also be filed.

The named methods of protection are intended only for citizens - individuals. Legal entities can defend themselves in the ways provided for in Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Resolution dated April 25, 2013, judicial district No. 361 of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow).

Conclusion

Search engine operators, website owners and providers rarely remove information when requiring a court decision because they do not have the legal tools to determine whether the information posted is accurate or unreliable.

Unfortunately, courts also often reject claims to protect reputations on the Internet or significantly reduce the amount of compensation for damage caused. This situation is not caused by the hostility of the judges, but by the poor preparation of the plaintiffs, including the incorrect method of defense. An experienced lawyer will help you professionally prepare documents taking into account the latest trends in judicial practice, restore your good name and compensate for the damage as much as possible.

Anna Poletaeva

The article was prepared specifically for

legal company "Era of Law"

• (publication)