Removing false accusations online means getting untrue statements of fact about you taken down at the source, then out of search. It turns on one distinction: a false statement of fact is removable, an opinion is not, and the copies have to be cleared before a journalist repeats them.
Key facts
- A false accusation is actionable only where it is a statement of fact that can be checked, because opinion is protected in every jurisdiction we work in.
- The UK Defamation Act 2013 requires a claimant to show serious harm to reputation before a claim proceeds, and evidence of that harm is part of the file from day one.
- Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act means an American platform is not liable for what a user posts, so pressure in the United States sits on the poster or on a court order.
- X acts on its own written rules covering targeted harassment, private information, impersonation and manipulated media, not on the fact that you dispute a claim.
- Google can take a URL out of results in one country while the page itself stays online, which is often the outcome that matters most.
- GDPR Article 17, the right to erasure, exists in the UK and the European Union and is weighed against the public interest in the information.
- Archive services preserve copies of pages after deletion, so a post being taken down by its author does not mean it has gone.
What counts as a false accusation online?
A false accusation is a statement about you that can be checked and is wrong: that you defrauded investors, that you were charged with an offence, that you are running a scam, that you said something you never said. Most of the accusations our clients arrive with sit in one of five buckets: fraud or financial misconduct, racism, antisemitism, abuse or misconduct toward another person, and association with a person or cause the accuser finds indefensible.
These usually start on X. A watchdog account or an activist account posts a thread, sometimes with a screenshot, sometimes with a clip cut so the meaning changes. It is quoted, mirrored to other platforms, and within a week a reporter has a headline that begins “questions raised over”. By then the original post is no longer the whole problem.
We take no position on the politics of any dispute. Our position is narrower and easier to defend: a false statement of fact about an identifiable person is removable, and a person is entitled to have it removed whatever anyone thinks of them.
Opinion or a false statement of fact?
This is the line every route turns on, and it is where most self-filed complaints fail.
“I think his course is overpriced and his marketing is misleading” is opinion. “He was convicted of wire fraud” is a statement of fact, and if there is no conviction it is false. “This company scammed me” is usually treated as opinion or as an account of an experience. “This company has never paid a refund” is factual and checkable.
Accusations of racism or antisemitism are harder, because they mix the two. A characterisation of your views is generally opinion. A claim that you said a specific sentence you never said, or that you were dismissed for a specific incident that never happened, is factual and removable. Almost every one of these matters has such a sentence in it somewhere, and finding it is most of the job.
What is realistically removable?
More than clients expect, and rarely everything. A false statement of fact about an identifiable person is the strongest ground available, and where your photographs, video or written material have been lifted to make the attack, that reaches the content directly without anyone having to agree about the truth of the claim.
The rest is judgment. Some items come down, some can be pushed out of the results for your name while staying online, some are best left untouched because attacking them creates a second story, and a few are simply not winnable. Knowing which is which before anything is done in your name is the difference between a matter that closes and a matter that grows.
Timelines depend on the route, the platform and the jurisdiction, and are set out in writing after the free Exposure Scan.
Get a Free, Confidential Exposure Scan
How we handle a coordinated campaign
We map the whole thing before anything is done: every post, account, mirror, forum thread and article, graded honestly, including the items we would advise you to leave alone. Everything is preserved first, because accounts get deleted and evidence disappears at exactly the wrong moment. Then we act on every ground that genuinely applies, at the same time rather than one after another, and we treat the search result as a separate problem from the source, because a post that stays up and stops ranking for your name does far less damage.
The press side runs in parallel and in different hands. You see the outcome and the evidence for it: the source gone, the caches cleared, the results checked on Google and Bing, in writing. Related pages: X post removal, defamation removal and search result removal.
What happens when the press picks it up
Once an outlet has published, you have two problems that need different hands. The post is a platform and legal matter. The article is an editorial matter, handled through corrections, complaints to the relevant regulator, and where the law allows, a request to de-index. Chasing the article first, before the underlying claim has been disproved on the record, is the common mistake: an editor will not correct anything on the basis of a denial.
We run both together, and where the story is still forming we work with your communications team rather than around it. Our press and media work and our guide for executives go further into that sequence, and agencies buying this for a client should start at our page for PR agencies.
Working with counsel, PR and security
Most of these matters arrive through a chief of staff, a lawyer or an agency rather than from the person being accused. That is fine and often faster. We work under NDA as standard, we take instruction from whoever the principal names, and we sit alongside existing counsel rather than replacing them. Where a case needs litigation we say so early; where it does not, we say that too, because a lawsuit turns a private problem into a public record.
What the law says about false accusations
The instruments differ by country, and the country that matters is where your reputation and your counterparties are, not where the poster lives.
In England and Wales the Defamation Act 2013 sets a serious harm threshold, treats a company differently from an individual by requiring serious financial loss, and runs on a short limitation period, generally one year from publication. Truth, honest opinion and publication on a matter of public interest are the main defenses, which is why the sentence that gets attacked has to be one that can be disproved rather than one you simply disagree with.
In the United States the First Amendment sets a high bar, a public figure must show actual malice under the standard from New York Times v Sullivan, and Section 230 keeps the platform itself out of it. The practical consequence is that American matters are won differently from British ones, and often on grounds that have nothing to do with whether the accusation is true. Australia added a serious harm element in 2021. Court orders remain the strongest instrument anywhere, and they are also the slowest and the most public. Which of these is worth anything in your matter is what the Exposure Scan tells you.
What we need from you to start
The scan runs on public information, so nothing is required to begin. To file, we need a working file rather than a story.
- Every URL you already know about, including screenshots people have sent you privately.
- The documents that disprove the specific claim, whatever form they take.
- Originals of any photograph, video, slide deck or written material of yours that has been copied, with proof of authorship.
- A short written authorization naming who instructs us. That is usually the principal, a chief of staff, general counsel or an agency partner with authority to act.
- Any legal correspondence already sent or received, so we do not cut across your counsel.
- A named point of contact for out of hours decisions while a story is moving.
An NDA is standard and can be signed before you send anything.
Timelines and what usually happens first
The first day is spent capturing and grading, not acting. Moving into a live pile-on without a map is how routes get closed permanently.
After that, some items resolve within days, legal routes run in weeks, publisher corrections run on the publisher’s timetable, and court orders run in months. Where something will not resolve quickly we say so at the start and tell you what a realistic next step looks like. We do not promise outcomes on decisions made by platforms, editors or courts.
Common mistakes that make it harder
- Replying in public. A reply gives the post a second life, hands the account the engagement it wanted, and creates a new quotable line for a reporter.
- Paying whoever is behind it. It confirms that your name is worth revisiting, it buys nothing verifiable, and in some jurisdictions the arrangement itself becomes a record you would rather no one read.
- DIY reports. A rejected complaint can make a second, better one harder to land, because the item is now marked as reviewed.
- Deleting your own material. People delete an old post, a video or an account to make the story go away and destroy the context that proved the clip was edited.
- Asking supporters to mass report. Fifty identical reports read as brigading and can help the post.
- Calling the journalist first. Approaching an editor before the underlying claim is disproved on the record turns a denial into a second story.
Who usually makes first contact and what the 15-minute call covers
First contact is normally a chief of staff, general counsel or the client’s agency, often within hours of a post starting to move. The principal does not need to be on the call.
The 15-minute call covers four things: what is live and where, which items look removable and on what ground, what we would need from you to file, and whether a scan is worth doing at all. If your situation is small enough to handle in two filings we say that. If it needs litigation rather than removal work we say that too. There is no pitch deck, nothing is signed on the call, and everything discussed is confidential.
Frequently asked questions
Can a post accusing me of something be removed if the poster believes it is true?
Yes, if the statement is factual and false. Belief is not a defence to a false statement of fact, though it affects damages in some jurisdictions. What matters is that the claim is checkable and wrong.
How fast can this move?
Some items resolve in days, legal routes run in weeks, and anything involving a publisher runs on the publisher’s timetable. We give you an honest range per item after the scan and never promise an outcome we do not control.
Will filing make it worse?
It can, which is why the first output is a map rather than a burst of activity. A badly aimed complaint against an activist account becomes content for that account. We tell you which items to leave alone and why.
My client is a public figure. Does that change anything?
It raises the legal bar in the United States and changes what is needed, but it does not close off everything else. Public figures are the majority of this work.
Who normally makes first contact?
Usually a chief of staff, a general counsel or the client’s agency. The 15-minute call can be taken by any of them. The report we produce belongs to the client and can be shared with counsel and insurers.
What does it cost?
Quoted in writing after the free Exposure Scan, once we know how many items are removable and on what ground. Most of what you pay is tied to items actually coming down: see success-based pricing.
Can you remove the screenshots as well as the original post?
Often, though on a different basis from the original. A screenshot reposted to Instagram, TikTok or a forum is a separate item on a separate platform, and it survives the removal of the post it came from. Screenshots are the reason dealing with the original alone rarely finishes the job.
We are mid-transaction and the accusation is in a data room. What can you do quickly?
Tell us that on the call, because it changes the order of work. In a live deal the priority is usually the search result and the article, since those are what a counterparty checks, and the report we produce is written to be readable by counsel, insurers and a diligence team.
If a claim about you is spreading and you need to know what can be taken down before you respond publicly, start with a free, confidential exposure scan. We map every post, article and copy, tell you which are removable, and show you our process before you commit to anything.
