As a defamation law firm, our primary concern is protecting our clients’ reputations from online attacks like defamation, doxxing, revenge porn, and review bombing. In other words, reputation is our business. If you are being attacked by defamation on social media, you may be wondering what options you have available to protect yourself.
Defamation attorneys (like us) are one option. So-called online reputation management firms (or ORMs) are another. Just how do ORMs differ from defamation attorneys, and which one is best for you or your business?
Over the past fifteen years, search engines, social media, and video sharing platforms have replaced television and the broader pre-2010s internet as the primary form of mass media. So it is no surprise that we are hearing a growing buzz around online reputation management. The ORM industry’s market size is purported to be in the billions. Journalists are fearful of it. And ORMs are popping up everywhere, pitching specialized packages to every kind of industry, from law firms to hospices, and setting their sites on big-money clients like hedge funds.
Typically, ORMs synthesize (1) SEO services, (2) internet-focused public relations consulting, and (3) content removal. Smaller ORMs will likely be weighted more heavily toward SEO and content removal, while the more ambitious ORMs may also offer tailored PR consulting and outside brand management.
Of course, a law firm cannot offer SEO services. As for PR consulting, as a defamation law firm we have done consulting for corporate clients on matters like Lanham Act compliance and liability in advertising—but that’s not really brand management or PR consulting.
Where defamation attorney services are likely to overlap, however, is in the area of content removal. If you are being attacked by defamation online, should you hire an attorney, or an ORM?
ORMs are usually going to be limited to utilizing the reporting tools available through social media platforms. Because social media platforms are generally immune from being sued for content posted by their users, the reporting tools these platforms offer are fairly limited. ORMs may get around this by mass reporting, at times utilizing offshore, third-party bot farms and passing the cost on to the client.
What a defamation attorney can offer, that an ORM generally can’t, is to take direct action against the person who is posting the defamatory content. Those individuals are not immune from suit the way that social media platforms are, and litigation—or the credible threat of litigation—very often influences behavior.
If your business has a stubborn one-star review on Google that’s driving you crazy, and an ORM can get it taken down pain-free, by utilizing Google’s reporting tools, that’s a good solution. But as so often happens in the 21st century, most of our clients have issues with persistent, repetitive defamation, motivated by personal hostility. When someone is attacking your reputation online out of personal hostility, you don’t just need one Instagram post or one Google review taken down—you need to influence that person’s behavior, and put them on notice that you will fight them, and make it costly for them to keep attacking you. Otherwise, the problem can persist across platforms and cause much greater damage than any one piece of content.
If you are experiencing defamation or doxxing, you are not alone. A defamation attorney at Late Night Law can help you protect your rights and reputation. We currently operate in New Mexico, and in Washington state. Contact us today for a free consultation at (505) 225-2623.
This article is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Late Night Law. Please consult an attorney for individualized advice if you have a legal matter.