Home / Guides
If someone is posting lies about you
Plain English guides to what the law allows today, what actually gets content removed, and where the gaps are.
How to get false or defamatory content removed from GoogleThe removal routes Google actually honors in 2026: personal information and doxxing, pay to remove sites, intimate images, outdated pages, and court orders finding content defamatory.Someone made a website attacking you. What to do firstA step by step plan for people targeted by an attack website, gripe site or false exposure page: evidence, hosts, copyright, Google, police and lawyers.California defamation law: what you have to prove about an online postThe elements of libel in California, the one year deadline, opinion versus fact, public and private figures, and why online defamation cases are so hard to win in practice.Section 230 explained: why websites will not remove lies about youWhat Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects, its exceptions, how California courts apply it, and why it leaves people targeted by false posts with few options.California's anti SLAPP law, explained for people targeted by false postsHow a motion under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 works, the two step test, mandatory fee awards, the discovery stay, and what to ask a lawyer before suing over an online post.How to find out who is behind an anonymous post in CaliforniaHow Doe lawsuits and subpoenas work in California, the Krinsky v. Doe 6 standard, what platforms and internet providers can disclose, and why speed matters.Websites that charge you to remove posts about you: is it legal?How pay to remove and reputation extortion sites work, what California law says, when it can be extortion, what Google does about these sites, and why paying rarely ends it.Is doxxing illegal in California? What the law says and what to doCalifornia Penal Code 653.2, stalking and restraining orders, getting your address out of Google, and using California's DROP platform to make data brokers delete your information in 2026.
General information about California and federal law, not legal advice.