What is Reputational Damage Control in Funeral Service Reviews?

Funeral reviews are sites where you can view information about funeral homes, memorial halls, and crematoriums. On these funeral review sites, users can also post their own reviews of funeral homes, allowing others to choose a funeral home based on these reviews and basic information. Among the reviews posted on funeral review sites, there may be negative comments such as “Staff A at XX Hall was careless with the coffin, which made me feel very uncomfortable” or “It seems the president is evading taxes”. In such cases, users searching for funeral homes on search engines like Google or within the funeral review site may come across these negative reviews. If negative reviews are posted on funeral review sites, is it possible to respond to such reviews with deletion requests? Also, in what cases should you consult with a lawyer?

What are Funeral Reviews?

Funeral reviews refer to websites where you can search for funeral homes, memorial halls, and crematoriums, and view information and reviews about them. You can access these reviews and information without needing to register as a member. Therefore, there is a risk that if negative reviews about a funeral home are posted on these review sites, users who are searching for funeral homes through search engines like Google or Yahoo, or through these review sites, may decide against using that particular funeral home for their services.

What are Negative Reviews Posted on Funeral Service Reviews?

When searching for funeral homes and other services on funeral reviews, you can check not only their features, usage methods, and access but also their reviews. The reviews posted on funeral reviews are published after being reviewed by staff, so there may not be many, but there is a possibility that negative reviews that could be considered defamatory may be posted. Below are examples of negative reviews that could be posted on funeral reviews.

Review stating “I was very upset by the careless handling of the coffin by staff A at XX Hall”

This is a case where a review was posted stating, “I was very upset by the careless handling of the coffin by staff A at XX Hall”. Whether the handling of the coffin was careless or not depends on each person’s perception, but if it is written so definitively, it cannot be denied that it gives a bad impression. Such negative reviews carry the risk of adversely affecting the number of funeral applications to that funeral home or hall.

Review stating “It seems that the president is evading taxes”

This is a case where a review has been posted stating, “It seems that the president is evading taxes”. There is a possibility that the president of a nearby funeral home has been arrested for tax evasion and is being confused with that president. In such cases, if a review stating “It seems that the president is evading taxes” is posted, it could potentially harm the management of that funeral home.

Other groundless defamatory posts and posts causing damage by rumor, etc.

On funeral reviews, there is a possibility that reviews may be posted that go beyond the satisfaction level of funeral homes and other services and bring about defamation or damage by rumor against specific funeral homes or their staff. It is believed that such reviews should be deleted in the same way as defamatory posts and posts causing damage by rumor on anonymous bulletin boards like 5channel. For information on how to request the deletion of posts on 5channel (formerly 2channel), please refer to the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/deletionrequest-for-2chand5ch[ja]

How to Request Removal for Violations of Review Guidelines

If you believe a review of a funeral service violates our Review Guidelines, you can report it through our dedicated contact form, accessible by clicking “Contact Us” at the bottom of our homepage. Select “About Review Posting” under “Type of Inquiry”, fill in the details of your inquiry, and submit.

According to our Review Guidelines, reviews that violate the guidelines may be removed. The guidelines state the following:

3. Please refrain from posting about events that could negatively impact businesses and are difficult to verify
“Funeral Reviews” is a site for sharing personal impressions. Please refrain from posting about events that could negatively impact businesses and are difficult to verify.

* At “Funeral Reviews”, we do not verify whether the content of the posted reviews is factual. However, if we receive contact from other users or businesses saying “The content is different from the facts.” about a review that is difficult to verify (not described as an impression), and we confirm the content based on the contact and judge that it falls under this item, we may remove the review. Please understand. Requests for correction or deletion of reviews will be submitted using the application form prescribed by our company. After submission, we will check the content and conduct a review, but we will only notify the applicant by email if we accept the request.

Funeral Review Guidelines URL: https://soogi.jp/guidelines/[ja]

According to the excerpt from the Review Guidelines above, a review like “The staff A at XX Hall handled the coffin carelessly, which made me feel very uncomfortable” can be reported as a “post about events that could negatively impact businesses and are difficult to verify”. The Review Guidelines state, “Requests for correction or deletion of reviews will be submitted using the application form prescribed by our company.”, but the application form is not listed on the site, so it seems that you can receive it after contacting us through the above-mentioned dedicated contact form.

Examples of Removal Requests Based on Illegality

Regarding the Review Guideline 6, “Defamation of individuals, definitive criticism of companies, and inappropriate expressions are prohibited,” it is necessary to consider defamation (infringement of the right to honor). What constitutes defamation? The requirements are as follows:

• Publicly
• Pointing out facts
• Defaming someone’s honor

For example, if a review is posted saying, “It seems the president is evading taxes,”

1. The statement “It seems the president is evading taxes” has a specific meaning,
2. Being perceived as a funeral company where the president is evading taxes is disadvantageous for the said funeral company,
3. There is no fact of tax evasion by the president, and it may be confused with a president of a nearby funeral company who was reported for tax evasion

These are the arguments that will be made. However, even if the requirements for defamation are met, defamation does not occur if the following conditions apply, so please be careful.

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

Not only the above example, but also other defamatory reviews and rumor damage reviews should be considered for whether they fall under defamation. However, removal negotiations based on such claims and legal arguments may be difficult if you are not familiar with the law. Consulting with a lawyer with extensive know-how often makes removal smoother. The requirements for defamation are explained in detail in the following article.

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

Removal by Provisional Disposition

What can be done if a review is not removed even after contacting through the inquiry form? In such cases, you can request removal through the courts. Reviews posted on funeral service reviews can be removed by a procedure called provisional disposition, without the need for a lawsuit. Even if a lawsuit proceeds smoothly, it often takes about 3-12 months, and in some cases, it may take more than a year. On the other hand, with a provisional disposition, if you consult with a lawyer who is knowledgeable about reputational damage, there is a high possibility that you can finish from request to removal in about 2-3 months.
The flow of provisional disposition is as follows:

• Filing for provisional disposition
• Examination (a procedure similar to oral argument)
• Payment of security deposit
• Issuance of provisional disposition order
• Execution

In the case of provisional disposition, in addition to legal claims, evidence to prove those claims is also necessary. For example, in the case where a review stating “It seems that the president is evading taxes” is posted, you would submit:

• Documents related to the final tax return of the president of the funeral home in question
• Documents reporting tax evasion by the president of a nearby funeral home

as evidence, and make a claim such as “There is no fact that the president of the funeral home in question is evading taxes, and it is possible that he is being confused with the person who was reported for tax evasion at a nearby funeral home.” However, it is believed to be very difficult to make such claims and prove them 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 have been numerous instances of baseless defamatory reviews or damaging rumors posted over many years, you can request a lawyer to make a disclosure request for sender information. This disclosure request is a procedure under 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 person who posted the defamatory review or damaging rumor.
While there are review guidelines in place to prevent defamatory reviews for funeral services, it is not impossible for someone who harbors resentment towards a specific funeral home or its staff to post reviews that amount to baseless rumors or defamation. In such cases, if the poster’s IP address and other information can be identified, the sender can be identified. The procedure for identifying the sender is as follows:

• Request for information disclosure to the content service provider
• Application for provisional disposition for disclosure of sender information
• Identification of the transit provider
• Application for provisional disposition to prohibit deletion of sender information to the transit provider
• Lawsuit for disclosure of sender information
• Identification of the sender based on the court’s judgment

If the poster can be identified through the above procedures, you can claim damages from the poster for the legal fees and compensation required for the identification. For more details on the disclosure request for sender information, please refer to the article below.

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

Summary

Funeral reviews are sites where you can search for funeral homes and view basic information such as access and reviews. In funeral reviews, the staff verifies the content before posting the review, so there may not be many, but it cannot be said that there are no defamatory reviews or rumor damage reviews based on misunderstandings or malice. For such malicious posts, there may be cases where it is better to report from the inquiry form, or if it is not deleted, to request deletion or identify the poster through the court. Legal claims such as defamation may be difficult to make without the help of a lawyer. If you are troubled by defamatory reviews or rumor damage reviews, it is important to consult with a knowledgeable lawyer as soon as possible.