Ovik Mkrtchyan wins online defamation case with record compensation

Uzbek businessman Ovik Mkrtchyan has won a case concerning defamatory information about him that was published online. It is reported that, by a decision of the High Court of England and Wales, he was awarded record compensation for this type of claim.

The matter dates back to autumn 2024, when the online platform London Post published material containing allegations that damaged the entrepreneur’s reputation. This prompted the businessman to take legal action. Ovik Mkrtchyan was represented in the case by law firm Carter-Ruck.

Having reviewed the evidence and submissions presented by the claimant, the judge concluded that the information published by London Post was untrue and had caused significant harm to Mr Mkrtchyan’s reputation and that of his family.

The Judgment notes that the case involved “extremely serious allegations”. The Court further concluded that there had apparently been a “coordinated information campaign” against Ovik Mkrtchyan.  The Court also found that the false allegations had been published as part of a concerted effort against the claimant, members of his family and his business partners.

The Court found in favour of the claimant and awarded Mr Mkrtchyan £105,000 in damages. The defendants were also ordered to remove the materials that formed the basis of the claim from the London Post website and to publish the judgment. They were further prohibited from publishing similar material concerning Ovik Mkrtchyan in the future.

The £105,000 award was reportedly a record for a case involving a so-called “pink slime” media outlet.

In addition, the court granted the claimant’s application for recovery of his legal costs in full. The costs exceeded £117,000.

“Pink slime” refers to websites that mimic legitimate news organisations. Such websites mainly publish automatically generated content but may also produce politically or commercially motivated material presented as news reports. Another characteristic of such websites is a lack of transparency regarding their ownership structure.

In 2024, in the United States – the country where the “pink slime” phenomenon first emerged – NewsGuard, a media research and ratings company, identified 1,265 such websites. The Financial Times reported a slightly lower figure, while noting that their number had tripled since 2019. A significant number of such outlets can also be found in Europe. Recent investigations have uncovered entire networks of pink-slime websites mimicking local media outlets. These investigations also identified content that was uncharacteristic of the outlets’ stated editorial focus.

The objectives of pink-slime media can vary, ranging from increasing advertising revenue by attracting traffic to pursuing political agendas. In the case of Ovik Mkrtchyan, however, it appears that certain commercial interests may have been involved.

Pink slime media can influence readers psychologically. They mimic regional or national news organisations and create the impression of legitimacy and trustworthiness. Materials published on such websites may be perceived as having undergone journalistic scrutiny, including fact-checking. At the same time, few readers are likely to question the information critically or verify the identity of the author, website owner or the origins of the material.

Thus, the significance of such material is enhanced by its publication on a platform that appears to be a legitimate media outlet. Unreliable information published on these platforms is consequently presented as established fact.

Another characteristic of pink-slime media is the networked distribution of such content. While a single publication may go unnoticed, the dissemination of a large number of similar materials can create the illusion of independent corroboration. As a result, the same information may be repeated across search results and may also appear in the responses of AI systems, which are still not always capable of critically assessing  the reliability and independence of their sources.

In most cases, defamatory materials remain without an adequate response and can therefore have the intended reputational impact. However, Mr Mkrtchyan took a firm position from the outset and openly stated his intention to seek justice.

In Ovik Mkrtchyan’s case, preliminary investigative work helped identify the owners of the website, making it possible to hold them accountable. The case may serve as an example of efforts to combat the dissemination of false information intended to cause reputational harm. The case highlights the potential legal consequences of publishing false information that causes reputational harm.