Shopee appliance seller sues customer over bad review – and loses
The court finds the customer’s comments are based on facts and are views a fair-minded person could hold
A Shopee seller that sued a customer for defamation after receiving a negative review has lost its case. The District Court ruled the review was not defamatory and ordered the retailer to pay the customer S$4,000 in costs. The customer, Chua Poh Hiok, had purchased a cooker hood from appliance retailer Asia Excel through Shopee and left a review expressing frustration over the seller's delivery and return policies.
Asia Excel sued Chua over the review but failed to establish it was defamatory, as the review conveyed true information about the seller's practices and was a matter of public interest. The District Judge noted that online shopping leads to negative reviews and that the tort of defamation does not protect against every negative review.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Singapore's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Shopee appliance seller sues customer over bad review – and loses businesstimes.com.sg
