Defamation and Damage to Reputation on the Internet – Stuttgart Detectives Take Action

Defamation – The Web Never Forgets.

Almost everyone has witnessed cyberbullying or the spread of false information about individuals, companies, or governments, and some have even experienced it firsthand. The internet is both a blessing and a curse: on the one hand, information is easier to find and international networking between individuals and companies continues to grow; on the other hand, the internet never forgets. Information that has already been deleted from the original page can often still be found for years via Google or through cached searches of other services. Aaden Detectives Stuttgart provide information on the topic of defamation on the World Wide Web:

Loss of Revenue Due to Online Reputation Damage

Defamatory statements and false information on the internet, which are regularly brought to the attention of the detectives at Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Stuttgart, have become part of everyday life for many private individuals and companies in this age of technology and networking. In addition to numerous other problems, they also lead to criminal complaints and legal disputes. Whether a student posts personally or professionally offensive remarks about a teacher on Facebook or on widely discussed teacher rating platforms, or a former employee publishes statements disguised as facts but filled with false claims about their previous employer on a private blog – both cases and many others can be not only hurtful but also damaging to personal reputations or businesses. They may cause difficulties in recruiting qualified employees or finding a job and can result in revenue losses due to deterred customers.

 

The German Federal Court of Justice (BHG) therefore issued the following ruling in June 2015:

"Operators of a website are not only responsible for removing demonstrably false factual claims on their own site, but also if such claims have been adopted by third parties and remain visible on their websites." (BHG, July 28, 2015, Ref.: VI ZR 340/14)

 

This ruling strengthens the position of affected parties, as not only the originator of a harmful statement but also all individuals who have shared and further disseminated such statements can be held legally accountable.

Reputation Damage Documented in a Court-Admissible Manner by Aaden Detective Agency Stuttgart

However, in order for legal proceedings to take place – in which the defendant can be ordered to delete the statements, pay damages, or restore the plaintiff’s reputation – court-admissible evidence of the defamatory statements must be presented. The corporate and private detectives of Aaden Detective Agency Stuttgart not only research and document such evidence in a legally secure manner, but their IT specialists may also be able to identify the authors of anonymous postings: +49 711 7153 011-0. Many people are unaware that they are not truly anonymous on the internet: their email and IP addresses leave traces that can often be traced by IT experts, allowing conclusions to be drawn about their identity.

Those Who Share False Information Are Also Responsible

What may come as a surprise to many is ultimately a logical consequence: anyone who spreads false information from any source – whether reliable or not – without verifying the facts or evidence shares responsibility. Under German Civil Code (Section 1004 BGB), a “disturber” is anyone who has caused a disturbance or whose actions may result in impairment, and thus anyone involved in the dissemination and publication of such statements. All individuals who fall under this definition can therefore be subject to claims for injunctive relief and/or removal. Consequently, a thorough investigation of all parties involved by our private detectives in Stuttgart is worthwhile.

Deletion of Statements Is Not Always Possible, Only If Reasonable

In addition to the court-admissible evidence of defamatory statements obtained by Aaden Detectives Stuttgart, the reasonableness of deleting the relevant text passages must also be established. Because the term is somewhat vague and difficult to define objectively, it falls within the court’s discretion to determine reasonableness. There have been several cases in which false and economically damaging statements were made, and although the court recognized their defamatory nature, it did not consider full deletion by the author or perpetrator to be reasonable. As a result, defendants are not required to remove entire articles but must delete the harmful and false statements contained within them and may also be required to pay damages to the plaintiff. These damages are partly justified by the long-term persistence of information on the internet, which can lead to lasting harm to the reputation of those affected.

What Role Do Google and Other Search Engines Play?

According to a ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg in August 2011 (Ref.: 7 U 51/10), Google is no longer exempt from liability when displaying unlawful pages or defamatory statements in its search results. In a recently concluded case concerning a lawsuit against the auto-complete function of a major search engine provider, the corporation reached an out-of-court settlement with the plaintiff and removed certain defamatory terms that had been automatically suggested when searching for the person. A spokesperson stated that some features of the auto-complete function had been modified so that disputed terms would no longer be suggested. This broadly corresponds to another ruling by the Regional Court of Heidelberg (Ref.: 2 O 162/13) from December 2014, according to which a search engine operator must no longer display content or websites in its search results once they have been contested.

 

Here too, the detectives of Aaden Detective Agency Stuttgart can assist by researching the relevant harmful pages and establishing contact with search engine operators. If these operators do not comply with requests for deletion, our private and corporate detectives in Stuttgart will also support further steps, for example in obtaining court-admissible evidence for a claim for damages against the search engine operator. Since the Regional Court of Cologne extended this ruling in August 2015 (Ref.: 28 O 75/15) to the effect that even a stated suspicion is sufficient to oblige a search engine operator to review the relevant websites, the use of our Stuttgart private detectives is recommended here as well. In cases of initial suspicion, we conduct research before reporting to the search engine operator, forward the findings to the appropriate parties, and, if necessary, advocate for the prompt deletion of the content: info@aaden-detektive-stuttgart.de.

Aaden Detectives Stuttgart

Lautenschlagerstraße 23

D-70173 Stuttgart

Tel.: +49 711 7153 011-0

Fax: +49 711 7153 011-9

E-Mail: info@aaden-detektive-stuttgart.de

Web: https://aaden-detektive-stuttgart.de/en

 

CEO: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Register Court: Amtsgericht Köln

Registration Number: HRB 83824