Can I send a cease and desist letter to someone who is spreading false information about me online?

I am a small business owner and recently discovered that a former employee has been spreading false and damaging information about me and my business on social media. This false information is negatively impacting my reputation and causing potential clients to question the credibility of my business. I want to put a stop to this and protect my reputation, so I am considering sending a cease and desist letter to the individual. I would like to know if it is legally appropriate and effective to send such a letter in this situation.

Merry A.

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What I suggest you do is write a polite, professional, and firm letter to the person(s) and send the letter in a manner in which you will get a receipt, such as certified, return receipt through the post office (this costs $8.75). Keep copies of everything. Let the person know they must stop immediately and remove any and all defamatory posts.. Do not make any threats. You can have an attorney do this for you, but it will probably cost you around $1000. After you send this letter, if the problem doesn't stop, the next step would be to get a civil anti-harassment order through court. This is something you can do yourself. If this doesn't work, you can return to court with a request (motion) to the judge to hold the defendant (respondent) in contempt and ask the court to impose fines. Another option, of course, is to sue for defamation (even for a business), but this type of case would cost you thousands and thousands of dollars, and there's no guaranty than you would win and get paid by the defendant. Although this is a "women's law" website, the website has a great explanation of various types of restraining orders in Washington State. Please look at the explanation for civil harassment: https://www.womenslaw.org/laws/wa/restraining-orders/civil-anti-harassment-orders You can, of course, skip writing a letter and go straight to filling for harassment, but judges tend to like to see some reasonable effort on the part of litigants to resolve their problems on their own prior to going to court. I normally would offer to help you, but I'm going to be traveling and am not available until some time after October 17th or so. I also do not engage in litigation any more myself. Oh, I want you to know that most Washington counties have a website for their courts that provide lots of information and forms for obtaining various types of restraining orders. Best wishes, Merry Kogut