Gurvinderpal Singh faces $1m payout over TikTok builder defamation
Gurvinderpal Singh took to social media including Tik Tok and Facebook after becoming unhappy with Singh Homes, who he had engaged to build a Truganina residence.
A County Court jury has ruled Mr Singh, who is not related to the building firm, had maliciously sought to damage the builder with untruthful comments.
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A video posted by Mr Singh on Tik Tok attracted about 220,000 views while a Dodgy Builders Melbourne Facebook page attracted 50,000 followers — with reader comments also found to be defamatory by the jury.
Court transcripts show Mr Singh's false claims were made against Singh Homes after the builder terminated the contract, in relation to Mr Singh's non-payment of a variation of costs.
Key injurious claims, which the builder has now had quashed as untrue, included that they were about to become insolvent.
With the jury finding in Singh Homes' favour, County Court Judge Julie Clayton will be asked to assess damages and legal costs potentially worth more than $1m to the builder next month.
Singh Homes' Managing director Daman Anand said the false claims had been 'very, very tough — it was like everything, our reputation over the years, had gone'.
'Hopefully now we will be able to get back out and build homes, especially with the jury giving their verdict, that will give our clients confidence that they can trust in Singh Homes,' Mr Anand said.
While he did not want people to lose the confidence in providing online reviews, which he said were important for helping people make decisions to connect with a particular builder, Mr Anand said it was important that they be based on facts.
'This was a win for us, but also a win for all businesses unfairly targeted by fake social media campaigns,'' Mr Anand said.
Singh Homes has operated for 16 years, employs more than 50 people and typically builds a few hundred homes a year.
It has collected a slew of awards for custom built homes, including the 2024 HIA Victorian Custom Built Home $1.5 million to $2 million.
Barrister Justin Castellan appeared for the builder during the trial and told the jury Mr Singh had 'wreaked havoc online' with unfactual representations.
'This is an important case because the jury has sent a clear message to all social media users that that Tik Tok, Facebook and Google reviews based on lies cannot be used as a weapon to damage a hardworking business,'' Mr Castellan said.
'People use social media all the time and they rely on it. They rely on little snippets of information and believe it. There is a responsibility on all of us not to publish lies; not to publish little snippets, without the full story, to give misleading, damaging and defaming information. Publishing lies has an impact. Abuse of social media has an impact.'
Sutton Lawrence King lawyer Adam Zuchowski acted for Singh Homes, including requesting the posts be removed from the internet – which Mr Singh complied with.
Mr Zuchowski said the case was unusual, particularly in that it went to trial with a jury, and he believed it was the nation's first to reach a decision relating to a malicious campaign against a business involving TikTok.
No social media companies were named as defendants in the trial.
Mr Zuchowski said the jury's findings showed a malicious campaign to injure a business carried risks for social media users carried risks.
'It shows you have to be careful about putting a review online,' Mr Zuchowski said.
'If you go on TikTok and say I have had a bad meal at a restaurant, that's probably fine — as long as it's true.
'So you don't need to scrape everything you have written on social media. But you do need to be truthful and give a full and truthful picture there.'
Daniel Legal's Eimad Daniel, who represented Mr Singh, said his comments would be limited until further court dates scheduled for August 18 and 19.
'Among other issues to be determined, the hearing will determine the element of serious harm that any plaintiff in a defamation case must establish before seeking damages, even if that plaintiff was able to establish that he/she was defamed,' Mr Daniel said.
'In relation to the use of social media to comment on businesses, this case is obviously significant as it may influence the way people may comment on services or products they received.'
Mr Zuchowski indicated they would allege a number of clients had aborted plans to build a home with Singh Homes after Mr Singh's claims appeared online.
As a result of this, and the significant legal costs involved in the case so far, he said they would be seeking more than $1m.
He noted a claim online that liquidators were coming for the builder had been particularly damaging against a backdrop of major builders going bankrupt, and that they would allege a number of prospective buyers walked away as a result of it, when the case returned to court next month.
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