On top of that they could scratch the review score for this property, remove the possibility to review it and put in a story about how a guest was arrested and jailed for posting a review. Google didn't cause this but they could have a part in stamping out this problem.

It sounds like it was the specific text of the review that led to the arrest. It doesn’t sound like all 1-star reviews would qualify as defamation. Of course it’s possible in any country to post certain text that is illegal. Fraud, threats of violence, and defamation are three obvious examples that are probably illegal to post online in nearly every country. I’m not sure why Google would need to post a specific warning about this.

The issue was not so much rating as content of comment. In particular they took offence over his claim they engaged on modern day slavery. That particular comment was taken down cause it broke site guidelines.

Thank you! This should be the top comment in this whole thread, as it is the only one, that speaks to the actual subject of the case.

It's just a figure of speech. What's so gravely offensive about it?

“Modern slavery” isn’t a figure of speech. It has a specific meaning describing worker exploitation.

For example the UK has the Modern Slavery Act - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Slavery_Act_2015

I mean, it’s at least arguably an allegation of a crime. I wouldn’t be a fan of criminal libel still existing, but that’s a case where it might be appropriate for the hotel to take a civil libel case, assuming it’s unfounded.

Which, considering this is Thailand, probably is founded indeed.

Nice downvotes. I don't get how people can be so oblivious to the fact that Thailand is one of the major hubs for modern slavery, especially when it's so well publicized but, well.

Context matters, in this case location.

It’s like joking about child prostitution in Cambodia. As an American it’s something that happens in far away lands (not entirely true, it happens in the US too).

In Cambodia, it’s a very serious issue that really pisses of locals since it’s mostly Western tourists supporting it there.

Joke about it in the US and it’s just frowned upon. Do it in Cambodian and you’ll piss people off enough to get yourself in trouble.

Read the article please. Quote: "A disgruntled American hotel guest who posted several bad TripAdvisor..."

It's right there at the start. So has nothing to do with Google Maps.

>I feel like if leaving a one-star review of Google Maps can put you in jail in Thailand, it is highly irresponsible and unethical of Google to allow leaving reviews in Thailand.

What? No. You can defame yourself in literally any public media forum where what you say could affect the other party. That means literally any public website with a comment feature. Singling out just google maps with a solution like that makes no sense.

Google has no ethical requirement to cotton wool people from being a dick and trying to negatively impact a business's revenue.

Jail for one star reviews is atypical even outside the west.

Short of threats of physical violence, you can't be put in jail for a comment in the US. That you think an opinion, no matter how dickish, warrants incarceration is ethically bankrupt.

That's not true at all. Aside from the obvious possibility of posting a comment that incriminates yourself, there are many situations where people have access to information that would be illegal to share on facebook - here's an example of someone found guilty of contempt of court for doing so https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/mom-jailed-for-facebook-post...