What to do about a fake or defamatory review in India
By ReputationKiln Editorial · Published
In India, work the platform routes first, document, flag with evidence, respond calmly, then understand how the legal levers fit. Defamation exists in both civil and criminal forms, and online reviews are within scope, but truth for the public good and honest opinion are defences, so a genuine bad review is not actionable. The other key lever is intermediary law: platforms are generally protected for third-party content, but once they receive actual knowledge through a court order or the appropriate government notice, they must remove unlawful content within set timelines to keep that protection. So a clear judicial direction is often the most effective way to compel removal.
The routes, in order
Document the review and its impact, use the platform's reporting tools, and instruct counsel experienced in IT law and defamation. A legal notice to the reviewer demanding removal often comes first; a civil defamation suit, and in severe cases the criminal route, follows where the harm is serious and the reviewer is identifiable; and a court order declaring the content unlawful is what directs the intermediary to take it down. For fabricated reviews used commercially, a complaint to the consumer authority is also available.
Extortion, and the limit
A threat to post fake reviews unless paid is criminal intimidation, and extortion if payment is induced, with cyber-extortion provisions adding to it; do not pay, document, report. One honest caution unique to India: criminal defamation is a real and powerful deterrent, but it can be misused against honest reviewers, so use it carefully and only against genuinely false, harmful statements. As everywhere, regulator and court routes target the serious case, not a quick fix for one review, and the panic-tax page is worth reading before paying any firm.
Sources
- An intermediary need only remove unlawful content on actual knowledge in the form of a court order, not on a private complaint. — Shreya Singhal v Union of India (Supreme Court of India, 2015). https://indiankanoon.org/doc/110813550/ · checked 2026-06-04