As we are witnessing, online bullying has found a prominent and dangerous place in the 21st century. This problem is prevalent among children and young adults. As seen in the news, and on primetime television shows like Glee just last week, this behavior has led not only to reputations being tarnished but also to a number of violent episodes as well as suicides among people of all ages. But what does one do when adults start playing the same game?
Roxy DeCou, MSW BCD, a successful psychotherapist for nearly three decades, based in Santa Monica, has become the victim of online bullying via someone who was not a patient of hers. This person, who calls himself “Dr. Acula G†left a rather extensive, defaming and libelous review of her on her Yelp business page over seven months ago (July 2011) that remains undisturbed today. This single act has resulted in a wipeout of calls from potential clients in a practice that has been stable throughout these past 25+ years. DeCou received an average of 10 inquiries per month for years and has only had one courageous person (who had read Dr. Acula G’s review) call to make an appointment.
A Phony Review of the Worst Kind
“I knew from the moment I read Dr. Acula G’s post, whose profile nickname is ‘Yelp has fake reviews. Beware.’ that there was something fishy about this review. I was appalled that someone would want to defame me in front of the entire world. I was certain there was no way this could be a client of mine,†said DeCou. “As I looked deeper into the matter I discovered that not only was this person never a client, I was not alone in my plight for he had a track record of online bullying, disguising his true identity through three different online personalities,†she continued.
Yelp Renders Small Businesses Helpless
Yelp, one of the most utilized websites for small businesses seems to leave business owners defenseless from online bullying. DeCou and herassociates tried to contact Yelp several times for assistance, to no avail. The only answer she got was advertising with the company may help to reclaim her positive reputation on the site.
With over 54 million unique visitors to Yelp (reported in 2010), it’s vital the company follows through with the filtering system they’ve reportedly set up and outlined under the “review filter†section on the Yelp FAQ webpage. The system is supposed to filter reviews based on a variety of factors outlined here: http://www.yelp.com/faq. Unfortunately, this system does not work as it should/is outlined in DeCou’s case and others.
Legal Action Taken Against Yelp
There have been many cases lodged against Yelp for the very reasons listed above, many of which can be found online. In fact, numerous lawsuits have been filed against Yelp over the past few years by business owners for reasons, including slander, libel, defamation of character and extortion. There’s even a website dedicated to this issue called www.yelplawsuit.com.
Instances of just a few of the many lawsuits filed against Yelp include:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/03/17/small-businesses-join-lawsuit-against-yelp/
http://www.regallawoffice.com/blog/2011/02/03/how-accurate-is-your-yelp-review/
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/17/complaints-against-yelps-extortion-practices-grow-louder/
http://www.10news.com/news/27080012/detail.html
“Yelp should be providing some way for businesses to defend themselves, especially if they’re being falsely accused or slandered by people who are not even patrons or clients,†DeCou said. “Yelp can be particularly dangerous for sole-practitioners like me. One negative review can destroy their business as it has mine,†she continued. “What we want from Yelp and any online service like it is to have a fair filtering system and to make sure posts come from people with legitimate things to say.â€
