CA Supreme Court ruling may affect local businesses

A California Supreme Court ruling is siding with the mobile app Yelp, saying postings on the site are protected by the First Amendment.

The ruling could impact small businesses in Coachella Valley who are affected by comments written on the site.

In the Hassel v. Bird ruling, one woman posted a negative review about her lawyer on a Yelp profile. After the lawyer tried to get Yelp to forcefully remove the comment, Yelp fought back. In a 4-3 ruling, the court decided Yelp could not be ordered to take down a defamatory review.

A business owner from Palm Desert says he likes the app, but thinks Yelp should be fair in keeping both good and bad comments, without upcharging for the service.

“It would be nice if they can have a ruling where they can be fair, the reviews stay the same whether you buy their services or not,” said Sergio Barajas from El Ranchito in Palm Desert.

He said Yelp reviews are valuable to local businesses.

“It is really important because one review represents you know, twenty, fifty, other people. It’s really important to see those and pay attention to those reviews,” Barajas said.

Eighteen other groups backed Yelp in the Supreme Court ruling, including the American Civil Liberities Union. The group cited the California Decency Act, saying it protects peoples’ rights to publish ideas or opinions without the threat of them being held liable.

Critics say the ruling could allow falsehoods to spread more easily on the internet.