

NEWSLETTERS
 LEAD
 INNOVATE
 GROW


GROW

A Random Facebook Post

Destroyed This Man's
Business. This Is How He
Fought Back
No one knows why the post was
written. There was no truth in it, but
the effect was devastating.



BY CHRIS MATYSZCZYK, OWNER, HOWARD RAUCOUS LLC@CHRISMATYSZCZYK

What happens there doesn't stay there. Getty Images

Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a

firmly rooted tongue in cheek. 

Do you have faith in humanity?

Or do you happen to believe that too many of its members can be

gratuitously cruel and vindictive sorts?

This question is an important one for Kenneth Rothe.

The 74-year-old ran a couple of small motels in Nambucca, Australia.

They were called the Blue Dolphin and Nirvana Village Motel.

One day in 2014, an electrician called David Scott decided to write this

Facebook post: "Pedophile warning:- Nambucca has been used as a

relocation for these monsters - blue dolphin -nirvana hotel and above the

Indian restaurant! ...Bus stops are right out front of theses hotels for our

children?"

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, no one really knows why Scott

wrote this.

There doesn't appear to have been any relationship between him and

Rothe.

It was more like the "I've heard people say" sort of rumor-mongering that

we've lately become used to from certain politicians.

This, malicious post, was very damaging to my businesses.

It was also damaging to him personally.

His life was threatened. He was beaten up. He spent six months in the

hospital.

And all because some random man had alleged that his businesses housed

pedophiles.

Rothe had begged Scott to retract his allegations -- none of which have

ever been proved. Scott refused (he's not accused of having had anything

to do with the physical assaults on Rothe).

What other recourse did Rothe have?

He and his family were forced to move to another state.

This retired deputy principal only had the court system left.

In the New South Wales District Court, Judge Judith Gibson examined the

evidence.

She decided that Scott should pay Rothe 150,000 Australian dollars.

Her words should send a shiver down the spines of many whose businesses

can be ruined by a stray, malicious piece of online commentary, whether

on Facebook or Yelp.

"This Facebook attack was made on him out of the blue, with no prior

inquiry of any kind by any person," said the judge.

It can happen so easily to any business owner. It can happen anonymously.

It can happen even if someone puts their name to the allegations.

Your business gets targeted and there's nothing you can do about it.

As Judge Gibson explained: "The anonymity, instantaneousness and wide

ranging reach of the Internet and social media make it a dangerous tool in

the hands of persons who see themselves as caped crusaders or

whistleblowers, or alternatively want to humiliate or troll other members

of the community for the purpose of gratifying their own wishes or fears of

for the purpose of gaining attention."

You've seen those people in action. You know what they can do. They

don't think, they act.

Scott claimed he was just warning others. The problem is that there was no

evidence for his allegations.

The judge said that Scott hadn't bothered to find out whether these

accusations were even remotely true before he posted them.

Rothe said he did extend crisis hospitality to those in family disputes, but

not to pedophiles.

Yet that one Facebook post ruined his business and changed his life.
In such circumstances, what can you do?

At least the courts were prepared to back Rothe, but not before he'd

suffered enormous personal damage.

Business owners have to be vigilant at all times for such muckraking social

media posts.

Ultimately, they have to hope that it doesn't happen to them or, if it does,

they have to fight back quickly.

It's easy to hope that it will all blow over. Sometimes, though, the effects

last and multiply.

Mark Zuckerberg's idealistic -- actually, more opportunistic -- "open and

connected" world is sometimes a little too open and a little too connected

to the ability to gratuitously destroy others.

AUG 9, 2016

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

This question is an important one for Kenneth Rothe.

The 74-year-old ran a couple of small motels in Nambucca, Australia.

They were called the Blue Dolphin and Nirvana Village Motel.
One day in 2014, an electrician called David Scott decided to write this

Facebook post: "Pedophile warning:- Nambucca has been used as a

relocation for these monsters - blue dolphin -nirvana hotel and above the

Indian restaurant! ...Bus stops are right out front of theses hotels for our

children?"

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, no one really knows why Scott

wrote this.

There doesn't appear to have been any relationship between him and

Rothe.

It was more like the "I've heard people say" sort of rumor-mongering that

we've lately become used to from certain politicians.

This, though, was very damaging to Kenneth Rothe's businesses.

It was also damaging to him personally.

His life was threatened. He was beaten up. He spent six months in the

hospital.
And all because some random man had alleged that his businesses housed

pedophiles.

Rothe had begged Scott to retract his allegations -- none of which have

ever been proved. Scott refused (he's not accused of having had anything

to do with the physical assaults on Rothe).

What other recourse did Rothe have?

He and his family were forced to move to another state.

This retired deputy principal only had the court system left.

In the New South Wales District Court, Judge Judith Gibson examined the

evidence.

She decided that Scott should pay Rothe 150,000 Australian dollars.

Her words should send a shiver down the spines of many whose businesses

can be ruined by a stray, malicious piece of online commentary, whether

on Facebook or Yelp.

"This Facebook attack was made on him out of the blue, with no prior

inquiry of any kind by any person," said the judge.

It can happen so easily to any business owner. It can happen anonymously.

It can happen even if someone puts their name to the allegations.

Your business gets targeted and there's nothing you can do about it.

As Judge Gibson explained: "The anonymity, instantaneousness and wide

ranging reach of the Internet and social media make it a dangerous tool in

the hands of persons who see themselves as caped crusaders or

whistleblowers, or alternatively want to humiliate or troll other members

of the community for the purpose of gratifying their own wishes or fears of

for the purpose of gaining attention."

You've seen those people in action. You know what they can do. They

don't think, they act.

Scott claimed he was just warning others. The problem is that there was no

evidence for his allegations.

The judge said that Scott hadn't bothered to find out whether these

accusations were even remotely true before he posted them.

Rothe said he did extend crisis hospitality to those in family disputes, but

not to pedophiles.
Yet that one Facebook post ruined his business and changed his life.

In such circumstances, what can you do?

At least the courts were prepared to back Rothe, but not before he'd

suffered enormous personal damage.

Business owners have to be vigilant at all times for such muckraking social

media posts.

Ultimately, they have to hope that it doesn't happen to them or, if it does,

they have to fight back quickly.

It's easy to hope that it will all blow over. Sometimes, though, the effects

last and multiply.

Mark Zuckerberg's idealistic -- actually, more opportunistic -- "open and

connected" world is sometimes a little too open and a little too connected

to the ability to gratuitously destroy others