Are you buying a fair amount of goods or services online and sometimes wish to leave a negative review? Do you always read the ToS fine print? Have you heard of a so called “disparagement clause”?
If you own a business and are exposed to online reviews think twice before adding disparagement clause to your ToS contract, as such can be found as violating rights of free speech.
An online retailer found an unpleasant review about customer’s experience and contacted the reviewer requesting a removal of this review as violating a “non-disparagement clause” or pay $3,500.
The review wasn’t removed and the retailer reported a failure to pay $3,500 to credit bureaus.
Now, the customer is suing the retailer on the basis of freedom of speech rights and the trouble of credit history related denied loans and other financial problems.
While the final say is yet to be heard from the court of law, we suggest to review your ToS and liability insurance policy, in particular the coverage part on Personal and Advertising Injury. If you don’t have one, it is simple to get insurance quote and bind the coverage.