A Blogger Convicted for a Restaurant Review...

On June 30th, the Bordeaux High Court sentenced the blogger "l'Irrégulière" to a fine of €1,500 (provision for damages) for criticizing a restaurant located in Cap Ferret.

The story begins after the blogger's visit to the establishment. Having not appreciated the service, she publishes an article upon her return entitled "The Place to Avoid in Cap-Ferret". In this post, the quality of service as well as the manager's friendliness are called into question: the customer seems to have waited too long for her aperitif, to the point that it apparently arrived with the first course.

Until now, nothing unusual. But what becomes problematic is that the blogger's review appears on the first page when searching for the restaurant's name on Google. The manager then considers that this article seriously damages her image and decides to take the matter to court.

"They didn't even ask me to delete the article or modify the title before suing me in summary proceedings. So I was completely caught off guard and I chose not to hire a lawyer for practical reasons, I didn't even have time to find one!" protests the blogger who struggles to organize her defense.

On the restaurant's side, it is estimated that "l'Irrégulière's "comment was more of an insult than a critique". "The blogger came to the restaurant only once: I remember her very well even though I serve 300 people a day, which tells you how pleasant she was. And she writes an article where she calls one of my waitresses a harpy. I can't let that pass. Perhaps there were errors in the service, it happens sometimes in the middle of August, I acknowledge that. But this article was climbing in Google results and increasingly harming my business, when we work seven days a week for 15 years, I couldn't accept it. You can criticize but there's a way to do it, with respect, which wasn't the case here. Now justice has spoken and for me the matter is closed".

This unprecedented case is making quite a stir, even though the blogger's mistake seems to have been deciding to represent herself. There is therefore no reason to be alarmed or to now fear being convicted for a review that's a bit too sharp.

Well, let's remain cautious.

Source: here