How to Remove Reviews from the Beauty Medical Review Plaza

Are you familiar with a site called “Beauty Medical Review Square”? Beauty Medical Review Square is a site where you can search for and book appointments at clinics offering cosmetic surgery and dermatological treatments. Additionally, you can write and read reviews about these clinics. However, there may be instances where negative reviews are posted, such as “The nurse had an arrogant attitude and it was unpleasant. Apparently, she’s dating the director,” or “The pre-surgery counseling was sloppy, and I wasn’t given the necessary information.” When such reviews are posted, users who search for the clinic’s name on Google or similar platforms may come across these negative reviews. What kind of response is necessary for the removal of such negative reviews? And in what cases should you consult a lawyer?

What is the Beauty Medical Review Square?

The Beauty Medical Review Square is a platform where you can search for and book appointments at clinics that offer cosmetic surgery and dermatological treatments. Additionally, you can check reviews of these clinics, allowing users to decide on their preferred clinic based on these reviews. Therefore, if negative reviews are posted, potential users who are searching for and trying to book appointments at clinics through the Beauty Medical Review Square or search engines like Google may see these reviews and decide not to book an appointment.

What are the Negative Reviews Posted on the Beauty Medical Review Square?

When you search for a clinic on the Beauty Medical Review Square, you can see reviews about the treatment details, pain, and time taken. While it’s very convenient to be able to check real reviews, there are also negative reviews, such as slanderous comments. What kind of negative reviews are posted on the Beauty Medical Review Square? Here are some examples of negative reviews.

Review saying “The nurse had an arrogant attitude and it made me feel uncomfortable. She seems to be dating the director.”

Posts like “The nurse had an arrogant attitude and it made me feel uncomfortable. She seems to be dating the director.” Although such posts have nothing to do with the clinic’s treatment, they can lead to a decline in the clinic’s image and potentially have a negative impact on the clinic’s management.

Review saying “The pre-surgery counseling was sloppy, and I wasn’t given the necessary information.”

There may also be posts saying “The pre-surgery counseling was sloppy, and I wasn’t given the necessary information.” Such reviews, if true, can be helpful to users who are deciding on a clinic. However, there may be a misunderstanding in communication between the user and the staff, and despite properly conveying the necessary information, the user may not perceive it that way. In such cases, if a review saying “The pre-surgery counseling was sloppy, and I wasn’t given the necessary information” is posted, the clinic may suffer damage such as a decrease in the number of reservations due to the review.

Other groundless slanderous posts and rumor damage posts, etc.

In the Beauty Medical Review Square, there are cases where slanderous reviews and rumor damage reviews with no basis against the clinic or the clinic’s doctors and staff are posted, beyond the scope of “treatment content and satisfaction.” Such posts should be considered for deletion, just like slanderous posts and rumor damage posts on anonymous bulletin boards like 5chan (formerly 2chan).

How to Request Removal for Violation of Terms of Use on the Beauty Medical Review Square

If you believe that a negative review violates the terms of use of the Beauty Medical Review Square, you can submit a removal request based on Article 5 of the Terms of Use through the removal request form.

Article 5: Removal and Editing of Content
We reserve the right to remove, edit, and reconfigure content posted by members, and users shall not object to these actions. Even if our removal or editing causes any damage to the user or a third party, we shall not be held responsible. Please notify us through the removal request form for content that violates the prohibitions in Article 7 of these terms or infringes on rights. We cannot respond to removal requests made in ways other than through the removal request form. Please refer to our removal guidelines for more details.

“Beauty Medical Review Square” Terms of Use[ja]

When you click on the link to the removal request form in Article 5 of the Terms of Use, the following screen will appear, where you can write your reason for the request and submit it.

The removal guidelines of the Beauty Medical Review Square detail the criteria for post removal. The criteria for removing posts on the Beauty Medical Review Square are as follows:

1. Invasion of privacy
2. Defamation
3. Infringement of corporate/legal rights
4. Copyright infringement
5. False information
6. Violation of terms
   

According to these removal guidelines, it seems that posts like the example above, “The nurse had an arrogant attitude and it made me feel uncomfortable. She seems to be dating the director,” can be requested for removal on the grounds of “invasion of privacy.”

Examples of Requesting Removal on the Grounds of Illegality

When considering the “defamation” section of the removal guidelines, it is necessary to consider defamation (infringement of the right to honor). Defamation is the act of presenting facts that may degrade a person’s social reputation in a setting that may be conveyed to an unspecified number of people. So, when does defamation occur? Defamation is established when the following three requirements are met:

• Publicly
• Presenting facts
• Damaging a person’s reputation

If, for example, it is written that “the pre-surgery counseling was sloppy and I was not given the necessary information,” then:

1. The statement that “the pre-surgery counseling was sloppy and I was not given the necessary information” has a specific meaning,
2. The provision of information in pre-surgery counseling is subject to certain legal regulations, and it is disadvantageous for our clinic to be perceived as a clinic that neglects to provide necessary information,
3. Our clinic provides all necessary information in pre-surgery counseling

Such arguments would be made. However, even if the requirements for defamation are met, defamation does not occur if the following conditions are met, so caution is necessary.

• There is public interest
• There is public benefit
• It is true or the truthfulness is recognized

Not limited to the above example, it is necessary to consider whether other defamatory reviews and rumor damage reviews also fall under defamation. However, removal negotiations based on such claims and legal arguments may be difficult without a detailed understanding of the law. Consulting with a lawyer who has detailed knowledge can sometimes lead to smooth removal. The requirements for defamation are explained in detail in the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/defamation[ja]

Removal by Provisional Disposition

If a review is not removed even after submitting a removal request through the removal request form, you will need to make a removal request through the court. Reviews on the Cosmetic Medical Review Square can be removed not only by litigation but also by a procedure called provisional disposition. Litigation can take about 3-12 months until a judgment is issued, and there is a possibility that it may drag on for years. On the other hand, provisional disposition often ends in about 2-3 months from the request to removal if you consult with a lawyer who is strong in reputational damage.

The provisional disposition is carried out in the following flow.

Filing for provisional disposition → Examination (procedure like oral argument) → Payment of security deposit → Issuance of provisional disposition order → Execution

When carrying out a provisional disposition, in addition to legal claims, evidence to prove those claims is also necessary. For example, in the case of “The pre-surgery counseling was sloppy, and I was not given the necessary information,” you would submit as evidence:

• The patient’s pre-surgery consent form
• The patient’s medical record
• The manual regarding pre-surgery counseling

And make claims such as “Our clinic provides all necessary explanations during pre-surgery counseling, and the items explained are also listed in the consent form.” However, it may be difficult to make such claims on your own without the help of a lawyer. For more details on the removal provisional disposition, please refer to the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/provisional-disposition[ja]

Identifying the Poster through Provisional Disposition

If there is a continuous and large amount of posts that are groundless slander or damaging rumors, you can request a lawyer to make a request for disclosure of sender information. The request for disclosure of sender information is a procedure stipulated by Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Japanese Provider Liability Limitation Act. Through this procedure, you can request the disclosure of information such as the IP address, name, and address of the poster of slanderous or damaging rumors. There are two types of reviews on the Beauty Medical Review Square: “Real Reports” and “Reference Reports”. A Real Report is a review that can be posted by registering the performance of the treatment when a member makes a reservation through the reservation/inquiry form on the homepage of the clinic that is paying for the advertisement and receives the treatment. Therefore, only members who have registered their name and contact information in advance and have received treatment can post Real Reports. The poster’s name displayed on the site will be a nickname, but it is not an anonymous review.

On the other hand, a Reference Report is a review that anyone can post anonymously and for free about clinics that are not paying for advertisements. In the Beauty Medical Review Square, while the number of Real Reports is about 200,000, the number of Reference Reports is about 2,000, and most of the reviews are Real Reports. Therefore, although the number is small, there may be cases where a person who has had trouble with a clinic posts groundless rumors or slander in a Reference Report. In that case, if you know the poster’s IP address, etc., you may be able to identify the poster. How is the procedure for identifying the sender carried out? The flow is described below.

1. Request for information disclosure to the content service provider
2. Apply for a provisional disposition for disclosure of sender information
3. Identify the transit provider
4. Apply for a provisional disposition to prohibit the deletion of sender information to the transit provider
5. File a lawsuit for the request for disclosure of sender information
6. Identify the sender (address, name, etc.) based on the court’s judgment
   

After going through the above procedures, if the poster of the malicious review is identified, you can claim damages from the poster for the attorney’s fees and consolation money required for the identification. For more details on the request for disclosure of sender information, please refer to the following article.

https://monolith.law/reputation/disclosure-of-the-senders-information[ja]

Summary

The Beauty Medical Review Square is a convenient online platform where you can check reviews of clinics and make reservations. However, it cannot be denied that there may be instances of malicious reviews and reputation-damaging posts due to misunderstandings or harassment. In such cases, it may be beneficial to request removal through a deletion request form, or to identify the poster through legal proceedings. Legal claims such as defamation can often be difficult to handle alone without the assistance of a lawyer. If you are troubled by defamatory reviews or reputation-damaging posts, it is crucial to consult with a lawyer who has extensive knowledge in this area.