4 ms·

It should be noted that defamation law has a very low threshold in Germany, to the point that businesses routinely sue Google Maps users for less-than-5-stars r

It should be noted that defamation law has a very low threshold in Germany, to the point that businesses routinely sue Google Maps users for less-than-5-stars reviews. Google had to change their display of reviews because of this. Three stars review is taken down for "libel": https://support.google.com/maps/thread/367778263/google-maps-ratings-and-reviews-becoming-increasingly-useless?hl=de https://support.google.com/maps/thread/367778263/google-maps... HNer gets a legal threat after saying that he didn't like a doctor: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 Google maps german policy: https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/16997273?hl=en https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/1699727... Meanwhile, service in Germany is still rather poor (especially if you have children), but at least no one can complain!

dgellow 4mo ago
Damn, that makes public facing LLMs a horrible liability
- Blackthorn 4mo ago
  Good.
- pif 4mo ago
  Which is what thay should be in any sane environments. LLMs can be wonderful tools, but they cannot be trusted.
- tempfile 4mo ago
  Public-facing LLMs are a horrible liability.
- InitialLastName 4mo ago
  No more of a horrible liability than a human writing public-facing copy.
applfanboysbgon 4mo ago
> HNer gets a legal threat after saying that he didn't like a doctor: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 This post is written by an LLM, and possibly a complete fabrication.
- 3ot 4mo ago
  Yeah, I agree about the LLM part. But can confirm from personal experience that businesses threaten to sue based on Google Maps reviews.
  - emsign 4mo ago
    Please don't use fabricated anecdotes in replacement for your own anecdotes. That doesn't make your argument more trustworthy but doesthe opposite.
    - jnovek 4mo ago
      If we’re talking about credibility, unfounded accusations of lying tend to harm the credibility of the accuser more than the accused.
  - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
    Let them sue then. Unless you lie in your review ("There was a used condom in my burger, 1 star"), nothing will happen.
    - Saline9515 4mo ago
      "I trust the law and the justice system" is a great way to get a hands-on schooling on why people spend a lot of money on lawyers.
      - microtonal 4mo ago
        This is why you get good insurance for legal help. If some company does this too you, you can defend without spending a lot on lawyers.
arrowsmith 4mo ago
See also: Germany's leader filing hundreds of criminal complaints against people who insult him on social media: https://rmx.news/article/germany-chancellor-merz-quietly-filed-hundreds-of-criminal-complaints-over-online-insults-documents-show/ https://rmx.news/article/germany-chancellor-merz-quietly-fil...
- CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
  "Germany's leader" - that's how you know it's a low-brow article.
  - rpdillon 4mo ago
    Except the article doesn't say that, only the comment here does.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
- smcin 4mo ago
  Shocking, only 10 short years since this (when Merkel was Chancellor): Turkey asks Germany to prosecute comedian Jan Böhmermann (Germany's equivalent of John Stewart) over Erdoğan poem https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11474967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11474967
  - arrowsmith 4mo ago
    Which led to a British journalist holding an "offensive poems about Erdogan" contest, which was won by Boris Johnson: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/19/boris-johnson-wins-most-offensive-erdogan-poem-competition https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/19/boris-johns...
harvey9 4mo ago
Here's an article from outside the tech sector, which I am linking to as a corroboration since this is quite surprising for those of us unfamiliar with German law. https://www.thelocal.de/20260504/how-a-google-maps-update-exposes-manipulated-ratings-in-germany https://www.thelocal.de/20260504/how-a-google-maps-update-ex...
CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
You cannot get sued for a review just because it's lower than 5 stars. But of course if you write something like "I found a dead cockroach in my pizza", or "I hard that they don't clean the dishes enough" in a review without proof, that's defamation. And it doesn't matter if you give 1 or 5 stars with the review.
- camillomiller 4mo ago
  I wrote a one star review and posted pictures of a badly burnt pizza served at a restaurant in Berlin. Google sent me an email telling me they removed that because the restaurant filed a defamation claim
  - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - bialpio 4mo ago
      It doesn't matter if some people think good pizza should be burnt to some degree. There is no such thing as objectively good pizza, so one-star review "The pizza was burnt, I didn't like it." is entirely valid thing to say.
      - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
        I disagree.
    - jfoster 4mo ago
      The entire concept of a review is that it's one person's opinion.
      - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
        In Germany, we care more about facts and I'd rather have it stay that way. Americans lost their right to talk ANYTHING German a decade ago.
7bit 4mo ago
That's BS. Google does not get routinely sued. Yes, Lawyers send takedown requests to Google. Google sends the reviewer a message and ask for a statement. If you provide one. They will check it and decide whether they seem it defamation or not. However, Google doesn't verify shit. Even if you send them proof of a purchase or visit and your message is objectively a opinion (not defamation) they will take it down. Why? I assume because they really don't care about individual reviews and rather spare the time and money and just take the comment down. Google changing their review displays is Google's decision. It has NOTHING to do with any threat of being sued. They could actually leave the review up when it's not defamatory but they simply don't want to invest the time to validate it or risk leaving a potentially defamatory review online. And the legal threat is without proof, so why would you even bring it up. OP could have simply posted the letter. They didn't wich makes this completely unprovable
y42 4mo ago
the threshold is not low, I would argue, it's just companies like to exploit it. (I just wrote an extensive analysis about that https://nickyreinert.de/2026/2026-05-28-google-maps-reviews/ https://nickyreinert.de/2026/2026-05-28-google-maps-reviews/

dgellow 4mo ago

Damn, that makes public facing LLMs a horrible liability

Blackthorn 4mo ago
Good.
pif 4mo ago
Which is what thay should be in any sane environments. LLMs can be wonderful tools, but they cannot be trusted.
tempfile 4mo ago
Public-facing LLMs are a horrible liability.
InitialLastName 4mo ago
No more of a horrible liability than a human writing public-facing copy.

applfanboysbgon 4mo ago

> HNer gets a legal threat after saying that he didn't like a doctor: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44734895 This post is written by an LLM, and possibly a complete fabrication.

3ot 4mo ago
Yeah, I agree about the LLM part. But can confirm from personal experience that businesses threaten to sue based on Google Maps reviews.
- emsign 4mo ago
  Please don't use fabricated anecdotes in replacement for your own anecdotes. That doesn't make your argument more trustworthy but doesthe opposite.
  - jnovek 4mo ago
    If we’re talking about credibility, unfounded accusations of lying tend to harm the credibility of the accuser more than the accused.
- CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
  Let them sue then. Unless you lie in your review ("There was a used condom in my burger, 1 star"), nothing will happen.
  - Saline9515 4mo ago
    "I trust the law and the justice system" is a great way to get a hands-on schooling on why people spend a lot of money on lawyers.
    - microtonal 4mo ago
      This is why you get good insurance for legal help. If some company does this too you, you can defend without spending a lot on lawyers.

arrowsmith 4mo ago

See also: Germany's leader filing hundreds of criminal complaints against people who insult him on social media: https://rmx.news/article/germany-chancellor-merz-quietly-filed-hundreds-of-criminal-complaints-over-online-insults-documents-show/ https://rmx.news/article/germany-chancellor-merz-quietly-fil...

CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
"Germany's leader" - that's how you know it's a low-brow article.
- rpdillon 4mo ago
  Except the article doesn't say that, only the comment here does.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
smcin 4mo ago
Shocking, only 10 short years since this (when Merkel was Chancellor): Turkey asks Germany to prosecute comedian Jan Böhmermann (Germany's equivalent of John Stewart) over Erdoğan poem https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11474967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11474967
- arrowsmith 4mo ago
  Which led to a British journalist holding an "offensive poems about Erdogan" contest, which was won by Boris Johnson: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/19/boris-johnson-wins-most-offensive-erdogan-poem-competition https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/19/boris-johns...

harvey9 4mo ago

Here's an article from outside the tech sector, which I am linking to as a corroboration since this is quite surprising for those of us unfamiliar with German law. https://www.thelocal.de/20260504/how-a-google-maps-update-exposes-manipulated-ratings-in-germany https://www.thelocal.de/20260504/how-a-google-maps-update-ex...

CarlitosHighway 4mo ago

You cannot get sued for a review just because it's lower than 5 stars. But of course if you write something like "I found a dead cockroach in my pizza", or "I hard that they don't clean the dishes enough" in a review without proof, that's defamation. And it doesn't matter if you give 1 or 5 stars with the review.

camillomiller 4mo ago
I wrote a one star review and posted pictures of a badly burnt pizza served at a restaurant in Berlin. Google sent me an email telling me they removed that because the restaurant filed a defamation claim
- CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - bialpio 4mo ago
    It doesn't matter if some people think good pizza should be burnt to some degree. There is no such thing as objectively good pizza, so one-star review "The pizza was burnt, I didn't like it." is entirely valid thing to say.
    - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
      I disagree.
  - jfoster 4mo ago
    The entire concept of a review is that it's one person's opinion.
    - CarlitosHighway 4mo ago
      In Germany, we care more about facts and I'd rather have it stay that way. Americans lost their right to talk ANYTHING German a decade ago.

7bit 4mo ago

That's BS. Google does not get routinely sued. Yes, Lawyers send takedown requests to Google. Google sends the reviewer a message and ask for a statement. If you provide one. They will check it and decide whether they seem it defamation or not. However, Google doesn't verify shit. Even if you send them proof of a purchase or visit and your message is objectively a opinion (not defamation) they will take it down. Why? I assume because they really don't care about individual reviews and rather spare the time and money and just take the comment down. Google changing their review displays is Google's decision. It has NOTHING to do with any threat of being sued. They could actually leave the review up when it's not defamatory but they simply don't want to invest the time to validate it or risk leaving a potentially defamatory review online. And the legal threat is without proof, so why would you even bring it up. OP could have simply posted the letter. They didn't wich makes this completely unprovable

y42 4mo ago

the threshold is not low, I would argue, it's just companies like to exploit it. (I just wrote an extensive analysis about that https://nickyreinert.de/2026/2026-05-28-google-maps-reviews/ https://nickyreinert.de/2026/2026-05-28-google-maps-reviews/