Remove defamatory posts about you or your business in Hong Kong

What counts as a defamatory post

In broad terms, a statement is defamatory when it is published to others, refers to you and would lower you in the estimation of reasonable people, for example by suggesting dishonesty, a crime or professional incompetence. Hong Kong’s Defamation Ordinance (Cap. 21) sits on top of the common law of libel and slander. Truth and honest opinion are defences, which is why a harsh but genuine review is not the same thing as a false accusation.

Criminal libel exists in the Ordinance but is practically unused: the Government told LegCo there had been no prosecution in the three years to the third quarter of 2024 (LCQ, 19 February 2025). For a private person, the realistic routes are platform policies, notices to hosts and, for serious cases, a civil claim through a solicitor.

Posts we are asked to remove

• A Facebook post or group message calling a renovation contractor, a tutor or a beautician a scammer, with no transaction behind it.
• A Threads post claiming a named person had an affair with a colleague, shared across offices in Central and Kowloon Bay.
• A LIHKG thread alleging that a clinic doctor or a small employer committed a crime, with a photo.
• A Google Maps review accusing a restaurant of food poisoning that never happened, posted by someone connected to a rival.
• Instagram stories and reposts from a former business partner after a dispute.

Platforms and hosts: what actually works

Most large platforms do not decide who is telling the truth. Meta, Google and X have legal-request forms for defamation, but they usually act when the content also breaks a clear rule (harassment, bullying, personal information, impersonation, fake engagement) or when a court order exists. Our job is to find the strongest ground for each post and document it.

Hong Kong-based hosts are different. Under *Oriental Press Group v Fevaworks Solutions* (Court of Final Appeal, 4 July 2013), a forum operator that is notified of defamatory content and does not remove it within a reasonable time can lose its innocent dissemination defence. A precise notice, quoting the words and explaining why they are false, therefore carries weight with local forums and sites.

What we do, and where a solicitor takes over

1. Free written assessment. We read each post and tell you which ground fits: platform rule, notice to the host, doxxing, or none.
2. Evidence. Screenshots with date, time and URL, the account details, and anything you provide showing the statement is false (a receipt, a court result, correspondence).
3. Reports and notices. We file the platform reports and send factual notices to hosts in NetClearer’s name, as your agent. Work starts within 48 hours.
4. Google. Once a post is gone, we ask Google to refresh the result.
5. Follow-up. We track each link and re-file on other grounds when a first report is refused.

Court routes are not ours. An injunction, a damages claim or a Norwich Pharmacal order to identify an anonymous poster (recognised in Hong Kong since *Cinepoly Records v Hong Kong Broadband Network*, 2006) must go through a Hong Kong solicitor. We never draft solicitor-style letters or threaten proceedings. Our evidence pack is useful to your solicitor if you choose that route.

When the post also exposes personal data

Many defamatory posts come with a phone number, a workplace or a home address. If the disclosure aims to harass or intimidate, it may be a doxxing offence under the PDPO, and the Privacy Commissioner can order removal, even from a platform outside Hong Kong. We prepare and file that complaint with your written authorisation; see doxxing removal.

What we will not do

• Remove genuine criticism, true reports or honest opinion.
• Act on posts about officials, police, judges, protests or any political subject. We do not handle political, national-security or public-interest content.
• Contact the poster, post replies or organise counter-posts.

Price

HK$255 per link, HK$608 for 3 links, HK$1,753 for 10 links, fixed price, no extra fees, paid by card through Stripe. For forum threads in particular, see forum post removal; for reviews of your business, see fake review removal.