They feel victims of negative reviews. Around sixty Japanese doctors have launched a class action lawsuit against Google Maps for having ignored the negative and virulent opinions to which they sometimes receive.
They are demanding 1.4 million yen (or 8,500 euros) in damages from the American giant, which they consider responsible for not having acted to combat these criticisms. Physicians feel unable to respond to or refute opinions damaging to their reputation due to their obligation to respect patient confidentiality.
“People who post reviews online can say anything anonymously, even if it's just slander or insults,” one of the doctors told reporters. “It’s like I’m a punching bag,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to a lawyer for the plaintiffs, the case before the Tokyo District Court would be the first class action in the country targeting a platform over negative online reviews.
“Extremely difficult to remove reviews”
“Despite the ease with which they are posted, it has become extremely difficult to remove the notices,” said lawyer Yuichi Nakazawa. “This can lead to doctors doing their jobs in constant fear of being subjected to horrible criticism,” he added.
The goal of many medical institutions is not to satisfy patients but to treat their illnesses from a professional perspective, according to the complaint. “Clinics that only give patients a superficial diagnosis and prescribe medications on demand would have no place from a medical point of view, but would be highly appreciated by patients,” we can read in this document .
If nothing were to change, doctors “may hesitate to take firm action and refuse unnecessary tests or medications requested by patients,” warned Yuichi Nakazawa. Ultimately, it does society a disservice, he added. The plaintiffs acknowledge that Google removes certain reviews on Maps based on its own criteria, which they consider opaque.
Google said it “works to reduce inaccurate and misleading content on Google Maps”. “Through the combination of human operators and computers, we protect business profiles around the clock and remove unfair reviews,” said the American giant.