Defamation can have a serious impact on your reputation. As a business owner or a professional, this damage to your reputation can really cost you. You may not be able to land jobs, find clients or make connections with other people in your industry.
This has always been a problem when people make untrue statements about others. But things have certainly changed in recent years. While defamation 30 years ago may have meant making these claims in the newspaper or on television, the internet has proven to be a game-changer.
Defamation can spread on social media
One way that this can happen is through social media. If someone is making untrue comments about you on your profile or groups that are related to your industry, those comments can spread like wildfire. They may go viral and be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. This can all happen in just a few days, and it’s very difficult to contain.
Moreover, many people who read these comments on social media are never going to look into it and follow things up in the future. They’re not going to see if the comments are true. They’re not going to fact-check anything. They’re simply going to believe these untrue statements, and the damage to your reputation may be endless.
What options do you have?
This is just one of the ways that the internet has really changed things in the modern era, and it’s very important for you to know what legal options you have if something like this ever happens to you.