As of 30th June 2010 there were almost 2 billion internet users, which represents about 29% of the global population. Individuals have more influence over what appears on the internet now, than ever before. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow individuals to share their thoughts, upload photo albums, create groups promoting opinions and topics and much more. Your average keyboard-warrior can use Twitter or other websites to blog about whatever it is that interests them. Undoubtedly, the development of the internet has created new means by which we can communicate with each other and access information.
Whether malice is intended or not the ease of self-publishing can mean that individuals can express opinions about other people, organisations and companies in a way that can cause damage. It can simply take one person to start a negative rumour online and for a few people to subscribe to and spread that rumour and a reputation can be seriously compromised. Defamatory or libellous content can take many forms often with the initiator not understanding when they are crossing the line and breaking the law. Whether it is an individual blogging about a company, an individual creating a fake Facebook profile containing misinformation, the damage can be substantial and if not dealt with early enough, disastrous. The capacity to cause this level of damage is not limited to the individual, libellous commentary by news sources or influential sources of information can of course damage, but the nature of the internet and it’s increased socialisation can rapidly accelerate reputation damage.
The increased potential for defamatory or libellous information being published online is of obvious interest to the legal sector, particularly law firms. More and more often, legal action is being taken against those responsible for what is considered to be a case of either online libel or defamation. There are a growing number of law firms who now have specialised internet lawyers for dealing with these cases. The issue with cases of this nature is that while it is usually possible to bring legal action against the publisher of a libellous or defamatory online publication, while compensation may be won, often the damage to the victim’s reputation may already be far-reaching and potentially irreversible.
However, using Repskan, a reputation management platform that helps law firms to combat the potential damage that their client’s reputation can suffer as a result of these instances can help. Such systems scan the internet for mentions concerning particular individuals or companies, collates and assesses whether the risk associated with these mentions and allows multiple options in terms of responding to or managing these mentions. Such products can give law firms the capacity to combat defamatory or libellous online articles much earlier and thus identify and limit or nullify the source of these articles. This is a tool that could not only prove to be indispensable to a law firm’s clients but also profitable to law firms.
Repskan scans blogs, mainstream online news providers, video sharing websites such as YouTube, micromedia such as Twitter and Friendfeed, forums and discussion boards, blog comments, and public discussion forums and public profiles on Facebook. For example the system could be used to detect that a fake Facebook profile had been created of someone; as recently as October 2010, a Cardiff-based law firm Hugh-James LLP took on a number of defamation of character cases concerning (in some cases) the creation of fake Facebook profiles where defamatory content was uploaded. Early detection is the key for reducing reputation damage - and every hour can count.
Not only are law firms able to charge clients for the addition of such a service, it provides law firms with the capacity to provide a proactive reputation management service helping to create and edge over other firms. In addition to this, the potential for faster resolution that also eliminates the workload placed upon administrative staff or paralegals in relevant cases results in increased efficiency.
