Recent news articles have highlighted that malicious comments directed at certain company owners or their businesses have become a serious issue. Such accusations go beyond mere criticism, often leading to falsehoods or defamatory statements, causing severe defamation and stress for the parties involved.
As a result, these comments can escalate beyond simple criticism, reaching a level that requires legal action; however, many face difficulties in legal procedures and evidence collection even if they decide to pursue a lawsuit.
200,000 incidents in 5 years, Company A's malicious comments against competitors
In fact, a representative of Company A, which provides online lecture services, was reported to have received a suspended sentence and imprisonment for orchestrating a campaign of malicious comments against competitors over the past 5 years.
Mr. Kim, the representative of Company A, employed comment workers to write as many as 200,000 malicious comments over a staggering 5 years. The affected competitor subsequently filed a lawsuit for damages amounting to 3 billion won.
Consequently, the court acknowledged the facts of the damages and ruled that Company A must pay 900 million won, and both Mr. Kim and the company executives faced criminal charges, receiving suspended sentences and prison time respectively.
This case illustrates that malicious comments directed at competitors can lead to legal consequences, showing that online defamation is not merely a business strategy but a serious legal issue.
In addition to intentional attacks from competitors, there have been numerous reports of the representative's 'owner risk' leading to corporate damages in recent times.
Examples of Defamation Lawsuits Against the CEO of Company S
The representative of the fashion brand S, Mr. Kang, has been running the company for a long time and has helped grow the brand.
However, recently, due to Mr. Kang's personal issues, the so-called 'owner risk' controversy arose, leading to a dramatic increase in negative comments about Mr. Kang and the company across various online communities.
These comments included false information that seriously damaged the image of Mr. Kang and Company S, moving beyond simple criticism.
Some netizens exaggeratedly distorted Mr. Kang's private life and management style to criticize him, with the intention of spreading the perception that the company is a "socially inappropriate enterprise."
As a result, the company's sales plummeted, and even partner contracts began to be affected.
Ultimately, Company S and Mr. Kang decided to take legal action against the authors of the negative comments, concluding that their acts seriously damaged Mr. Kang's honor and spread false information that negatively impacted fair business operations.
Consequently, Company S identified the commenters and thoroughly collected evidence of defamation and dissemination of false information to submit to the court, resulting in fines and prison sentences for the authors, and Company S continued to take further measures to restore its image.
In this way, issues related to malicious comments can have a significant impact on businesses. When a specific company attracts media attention or is linked to sensitive societal issues, there are often instances of malicious comments being intentionally posted.
Therefore, for individuals and businesses suffering from malicious comments, the WhiteMe service provides 'partner company linkage' and 'documentation of lawsuit evidence' as legal support services.
Case Studies of Resolving Malicious Comments Against Representatives
In fact, looking at customer cases that used WhiteMe, businessman Mr. Park became embroiled in bad rumors related to a specific political issue and was subjected to comments filled with baseless accusations and insults.
He tried to ignore it a couple of times, but as the comments increased and the malicious expressions intensified, he ultimately decided to respond. However, when he tried to file a lawsuit, he found it difficult to identify the author and felt overwhelmed by the need to systematically prepare the evidence.
As he searched for information on legal responses to malicious comments, he mentioned that he came to know about the WhiteMe Legal Support Referral Service, stating that he felt significant mental pain because his reputation was deteriorating due to himself, leading to decreased sales and affecting his employees as well.
WhiteMe Evidence Collection Report, the following information is collected.
Therefore, WhiteMe also recognized the seriousness of the situation and, while conducting monitoring and reputation management, helped him recover to his online daily life through the legal support referral service.
Mr. Park was able to meticulously prepare the evidence for the lawsuit with the help of experts through the legal support referral service and expressed his relief at being able to take legal action against the individual who wrote the malicious comments. :)
Don't overthink filing a complaint for malicious comments
As in the cases above, the legal support linkage service of WhiteMe can help with complaints based on unfounded criticisms and malicious comments stemming from false information.
The legal support linkage service is designed to assist clients considering complaints about malicious comments with an easy and straightforward legal action procedure, allowing for the identification of authors based on the 'Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection', and it greatly helps to document legally valid evidence.
Beyond simple evidence collection, it helps connect clients with experts so they can systematically prepare for the complaint process as needed.
Therefore, WhiteMe's ultimate goal is not only to delete simple malicious comments, but also to efficiently collect necessary materials and provide legally valid documentation for clients who are considering legal processes!
Don't stress about preparing for complicated legal responses anymore; WhiteMe is here for you.
If you want to check the constantly rising malicious comments in real time?
If you're curious about more discussions on responses to and collection of malicious comments, check out Why you need to start corporate reputation management with WhiteMe now?. It will surely be of great help to you.
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