Freedom of speech online

[DG]

Is there any good guides to what can and can't be posted online without getting you into trouble - a forum I look after has someone posting a query online about a certain company but also mentioned the owner's name

And someone else replied to say they were in business with them for the last 2 years but slow to respond to phone calls, etc

The company has contacted us in a huff asking for the postings to be removed but can't really see too much wrong with it - apart from the original poster mentioning the owner's name perhaps?

Anyway if there was a clear guide to follow then would make life easier for all.

[Whowhere]

If the item that has been posted is untrue, then yes they can request you remove it.
If it's details of someone elses experiences then as long as he hasn't made them up then the company can go swivel.

As for the owner's name, its publicly available information.

[Jim V]

All the laws about libel apply online - and you count as the publisher responsible, not the user. That's it in a nutshell - you need to be able to prove what you are claiming, and as the person responsible for publishing it you need to have the evidence, not the poster.

[Jim V]

Here's a very well written guide from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A1183394

You'll want to take a close look at it as libel includes comments that -

Discredits them in their trade, business or profession

and the specifically difficult bit about English law -

The burden of proof lies with the defendant
Almost uniquely in English law, in libel cases the burden of proof lies with the author / publisher and not the complainant. In other words, you have to prove that what you write is true. The person you've targeted does not have to prove that you're wrong.

[Calvin]

Let him sue, if he's that bothered.

If not its tough shit. He will just have to live with the critism.