I know it was all strengthened this year, but i saw a funny case on Google Maps where i was looking a a restaurant. It had high reviews and i saw one recent review giving it 2 stars saying it wasn’t good etc. the owner commented they will sue them if they dont remove the comment.
The thing is Im not too sure how this works now. There is a tendency for reviews of everything in Japn by the media to be “OISHIIIIIII” or for movies only talk about it being good even if it is SHIT. This is likely related and also to avoid the other party losing face which is big here.
However with online reviews and social media its like they are fighting the tide of the ocean. Whats the fucking point of google user reviews in Japan? Why not remove it entirely if everyone starts suing people?
4 comments
Not legal advice but what I heard was, if you want to minimize your likihood of being sued while fulfilling your need to express your feelings, write exactly what you perceived with your 5 senses and avoid conclusions. Instead of “this auto shop ripped me off”, write what you went to the auto shop for, what the mechanic billed you for, what additional fees/repairs he tried to add on and that you weren’t happy with that practice.
Of course anyone can sue anyone for anything, but as far as I understand it, they are unlikely to win unless they can successfully argue that the person who wrote the review was:
1. malicious
2. lying (although truth is apparently irrelevant, the defendant’s chances are probably much higher if they aren’t lying)
3. not doing something in the public interest
I don’t have the patience to dig up old cases (I’m sure there are some) but I imagine in the case you mentioned, the restaurant would lose if they really did go through with suing the individual (assuming the review in question was objectively fair and not excessive in its content/wording etc.). I guess the point really is for the business to get its way by simply threatening to sue.
If I left a negative review that I thought was fair and reflected the facts, I like to think I would defend myself and see it through to the end but of course fighting a lawsuit is likely to be both expensive and time-consuming. Plus, apparently if they went to the police about it you could be arrested (assuming they could find out who you are from the review).
No one is suing anyone in Japan, the lawsuit per capita in Japan is much much lower than in the US
Even if possible, how are they going to find the details of the review poster to sue? I’m sure no law firm is going to take a case if the accused listed as wahahaha2022@gmail.com