Smith v. Yelp CA1/3

BACKGROUND

Smith owns a business that claims to, among other things, help clients submit fictitious business name statements. He has a business owner account with Yelp, a website that publishes user-submitted business reviews. In 2020, Smith filed a complaint alleging Yelp was negligent for failing to remove a “false review” of his business. According to the complaint, Yelp

1 “kept the review posted” after Smith notified Yelp the review contained “false information.” Smith sought $1 million in damages. Yelp filed a special motion to strike. On January 12, 2021, the trial court granted the motion and dismissed the complaint. It concluded Smith’s negligence claim arose from protected activity — the posting of a consumer review, in connection with an issue of public interest, on a public forum. The court also determined Smith could not demonstrate a probability of prevailing for several reasons, including that Yelp’s terms of service state it owes account holders no duty to remove third-party reviews and that it cannot be held liable for declining to do so. The clerk served a file-endorsed copy of the order the following day.1 Thereafter, Yelp sought $3,190 in attorney fees and…