Before filing a civil suit for defamation, how should I secure evidence?

Hello. I am a civil attorney at Daeryun Law LLC.

To file a civil suit for defamation, above all, how you secure evidence before litigation is important.

In a civil suit for defamation, the victim must directly prove the harmful act and the damage, so if evidence is insufficient, the litigation itself can become difficult.

Basically, you should secure materials so that the content of the posts or comments at issue, the URL, the time of writing, and the account information can be verified.

Because screen captures alone have limitations, it is helpful, if possible, to prove the existence and content of the posts through notarization.

Even for posts that have already been deleted, if there are materials from before the deletion, they can be used, and you may also consider an application for a factual inquiry against the platform operator.

In addition, you should also organize what harm actually resulted from the defamation.

Materials that can objectively demonstrate matters such as a decline in social reputation, suspension of transactions, disadvantages at work, and emotional distress serve as the basis for the assessment of damages.

An important point in this process is that you must collect evidence through lawful means.

Daeryun Law LLC, in collaboration with its Evidence Investigation and Digital Forensics Center, conducts, in accordance with lawful procedures, the analysis of online records, the review of deleted posts, and the review of the possibility of identifying the author, and supports the collection of evidence needed for a civil suit for defamation.

In addition, we review the criminal complaint procedure for defamation together with the civil claim for damages, and prepare a comprehensive response strategy suited to the case.

If you are experiencing difficulties from the evidence-securing stage, we recommend that you review the response direction suited to your case through a consultation with a civil attorney.