“The worst meal I ever had. And the service sucked, too.” Can you legally say that kind of thing about a restaurant on social media sites like Yelp? Those long, eye-glazing terms of service (sometimes called “terms of use,” “end-user terms of service,” etc.) in websites that express your rules of behavior sometimes state that you can’t say derogatory things about a business without violating those user terms. The text of such user terms can ramble on forever and obviously go unread by most customers. When is the last time you thoroughly read the Apple iTunes user agreement?
It’s important to note that U.S. courts typically do uphold website user terms when they are challenged. For example, an Arizona federal district court stated in a 2009 case referring to a non-disparagement clause, that “[u]nder Arizona law, courts generally enforce boilerplate language or clauses in non-negotiated, standardized contracts.” Serious stuff. Continue reading ““I Told the Waiter There Was a Fly in My Soup!” – A Little More Freedom for User Outrage on Yelp and other Social Media Sites”