Reputation Protection - Defamation, Fake Reviews and Privacy Violations
One post, one interview, one fake review can cost a business its clients and a person their job. But reputation protection in Georgia has an important feature: the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression protects expression strongly, defamation is not a criminal offence, and the claimant must prove that the statement contains a false fact, not merely an unpleasant opinion.
This page explains how a reputation case is won under that standard: what is fact and what is opinion, how the bar differs for a public figure, what remedies exist (retraction, takedown, compensation), how online content is removed through the platforms, and how a lawyer defends an author, journalist or reviewer accused of defamation.
Updated · Practice area: Civil litigation lawyer
What Is Defamation and What Is Not - The Line the Case Is Won or Lost On
Under the law, defamation is a statement containing a substantially false fact that harms a person. Opinion, evaluation, criticism and hyperbole are protected even when unfair and offensive.
Stages of a Reputation Case - From Publication to Retraction
Immediate preservation
A notarised or specialist-service copy of the post, article, review or video with URL, date, view and share counts. A deleted post cannot be proved later, and authors frequently delete as soon as they hear of a claim.
Legal qualification of the statement
Fact or opinion, private or public figure, which specific phrase is disputed: the lawyer builds the claim on individual sentences, not the whole text. "The entire article is defamatory" is a losing formulation.
Demand for retraction to the author or editor
The law provides for a demand for retraction or reply before suing; for media it is also a professional standard. The letter often works, with the editor correcting and the author deleting, and shows the court that the claimant tried the soft route first.
Takedown through the platform
Fake reviews, fake pages, personal data: through the platforms' own procedures (Google, Meta, marketplaces), without court or with a court order. The lawyer drafts the request in the language of the platform's rules, which materially raises the chance of success.
Identifying the author
Establishing who is behind an anonymous account or fake review by a court order requiring the platform to disclose information. Without a respondent there is no claim; this is often the longest stage of the case.
Lawsuit and remedies
Retraction in the same form and place where the statement spread; deletion; moral damages and, where proved, financial loss (lost clients, cancelled contract). The 100-day limit from publication or knowledge is the number most often missed in reputation cases.
You Are Being Sued for Defamation - How a Lawyer Defends the Author
A journalist, a blogger, a reviewer, a former client who shared their experience: defamation claims are often used as a tool to silence criticism. The law provides several layers of protection against this, and the lawyer's job is to use them correctly.
The first layer is qualification: opinion, evaluation, criticism and satire are protected and cannot be defamation. The second is truth: a substantially true fact is not defamation, however unpleasant, and the lawyer gathers the sources (documents, witnesses, public records). The third is privilege: a good-faith statement on a matter of public interest, accurate reporting of court and parliamentary proceedings, quoting another person's statement with attribution.
The fourth is the public figure standard: an official, a politician, a well-known head of a public business must tolerate more criticism, and the claimant must prove malice or gross negligence. The fifth is the deadline: a claim filed after 100 days is to be dismissed. In parallel, where the claim is abusive, the lawyer seeks full recovery of legal costs.
What Can Be Claimed and Within What Time
- Retraction and correction
- Retraction of the statement in the same medium, in the same place and at the same prominence. Online: editing the post or a separate post. Often the most valuable outcome for a claimant: a restored reputation is worth more than money.
- Right of reply
- The media outlet's obligation to let the person publish their own response, before any claim and without court. A refusal is an additional argument in court.
- Deletion and injunction
- Removal of online content and a ban on republication by court order, also as interim relief until the case is decided.
- Moral damages
- The main monetary remedy in defamation. The amount depends on the scale of dissemination, the author's status, the consequences and the degree of fault. A business is generally not awarded moral damages; its instrument is financial loss.
- Financial loss
- A lost contract, a cancelled order, a drop in clients, with causation and documents. Hard to prove, but the only real monetary claim for a business.
- 100 days
- The period for filing a claim from the day the person learned or should have learned of the statement. Statutory and strict; the lawyer counts it at the first consultation.
What to Collect in the First Hours
- A full copy of the publication: screenshot with URL and date, saved page, downloaded video; notarised where possible.
- The scale of dissemination: views, shares, comments, reposts on other pages - the basis for the amount of damages.
- Author and platform details: profile, account ID, the media outlet's editorial contact.
- Proof of harm: a cancelled order, a client's letter saying "we read it and changed our mind", a drop in revenue over the period, an employer's reaction.
- Your reply or demand for retraction, if already sent, and the author's reaction.
- If you are the author: the sources, documents and witnesses the statement was based on - evidence of truth and good faith.
Three Reputation Cases
A wave of fake reviews on a restaurant
Fifteen one-star reviews in a week from new accounts alleging "food poisoning". Lawyer: a request to the platform on grounds of fake activity, in parallel a court order to identify the authors. The platform removed the reviews; the author turned out to be a competitor's employee, and the case settled with a retraction and compensation.
An interview by a former partner
An interview says a businessman "misappropriated funds". Lawyer: a factual, verifiable statement; a demand for retraction to the editor, then a claim against the author and the outlet. The outlet granted a right of reply and published a correction; moral damages were awarded against the author.
A blogger sued by a clinic
A patient described their experience: "the surgery went badly, I was left with complications". Lawyer on the author's side: medical records confirming the complications, qualification of the statements as personal experience and opinion, public interest. The claim was dismissed with costs against the clinic.
Questions About Reputation Protection
Can I go to the police over defamation?
Defamation and insult are not criminal offences in Georgia; they are civil disputes. Exceptions: threats, violation of the secrecy of private life, distribution of intimate images, which do carry criminal liability. The lawyer determines whether your case has a criminal element.
The author is anonymous. Is a claim worth it?
Identification first: a court order requiring the platform to disclose information. Georgian platforms and media comply with court orders; with international platforms the procedure is longer but works. In parallel, a takedown request to the platform can be made even without identifying the author.
What amount of compensation is realistic?
In Georgian practice moral damages for defamation are moderate and depend on the circumstances: scale, the author's status, consequences. In a reputation case the valuable outcome is often the retraction and takedown, not the money; for a business, documented financial loss.
The statement is true, but it is my private life. Can I still do anything?
Yes: a privacy violation is a claim independent of defamation, and truth does not exclude it. Health, family relationships, intimate life, private correspondence: publication without public interest is unlawful. For a public figure this protection is narrow; for a private person it is broad.
The publisher or the author - whom do I sue?
Both are possible: the outlet answers for what it published, the author for their own statement. A platform generally does not answer for comments unless it failed to remove them after notice. The lawyer chooses the respondent by who can retract and from whom compensation is realistic.
Lawyers for Reputation and Defamation Cases
A reputation case is won with two skills: precisely separating fact from opinion, and speed, because 100 days pass quickly. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who knows the freedom of speech law and the platforms' procedures.
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That does not mean we cannot help. Call us - we will match you with a specialist for a remote consultation or from a nearby city.
Call: 568 330 318Defamation, a Fake Review or Private Information Spreading?
In a free consultation the lawyer assesses whether the statement is legally actionable, what must be preserved today and which route (platform, retraction, lawsuit) will get results. A call within 15 minutes.