# Remove a RateMyProfessors Review: What Is Possible How to remove a RateMyProfessors review or respond to it: the flag route, institutional help, legal limits and a calm plan for teachers and academics. --- You can remove a RateMyProfessors review only if the site's moderators agree that it breaks the site's own rules. A review that is harsh, unfair or simply wrong about your teaching is usually not enough. Teachers cannot delete or edit ratings themselves, so the realistic routes are a flag, a measured reply through a professor account, help from your institution and, for a false statement of fact, a slow legal route with its own risks. One limit applies to the whole article. The site's guidelines page blocks automated readers, so we could not read it. What we say the site does comes from pages of its own [help center](https://help.ratemyprofessors.com/article/20-professor-negative-reviews), a news report quoting the company, a third-party explainer, a law firm guide and an encyclopedia entry, each named where used. Check the live guidelines and flag form before you act, because platform policies change.
The short version
## What RateMyProfessors says it removes, and what it does not The site removes individual comments that break its guidelines, and removes whole profiles only in narrow cases. Its help center says only comments that violate its guidelines are removed, and that it does not remove ratings just because a professor disagrees with them. It also says a profile is removed only when the professor no longer teaches at the listed university. On January 16, 2019, The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted a spokesman for Cheddar, the company that owned the site then, saying a viral tweet claiming removals were easy did not reflect company policy. He described profile removal as reserved for special cases, such as a professor who has left the college tied to the profile, or comments that violate another country's privacy laws. For comments, it lists false information, details that could identify other students, and hostility. A professor at California State University, Northridge, who emailed a removal request was told the next day that profiles are removed only in special circumstances. That is a 2019 position, and the help center now differs on false information, as the flag section shows. A third-party explainer from Coursicle, a competing review service, says professors cannot directly delete or edit reviews and lists the types of review it describes as removable: profanity and slurs, personal attacks unrelated to teaching, identifying information about the reviewer or other students, accusations of illegal behavior, reviews of the wrong professor, spam, and reviews written by the professor or someone with a conflict of interest. ### What the sources suggest is not removable A review that says your lectures are dull, your grading is harsh or your exams are unfair is opinion about teaching. Coursicle says a harsh review that stays on topic generally stays up. Whole-profile removal is narrow: the help center ties it to leaving the listed university and adds that students can add professors at any time, so profiles can reappear. ## How to flag a RateMyProfessors review so a moderator can act on it Flag the specific review, pick the reason that matches the rule it breaks, and keep the explanation factual. The site's help center says a flag goes to moderators, who remove a comment only if it breaks the guidelines, and that flagged reviews are escalated for immediate review without a stated timeframe. Coursicle describes a menu of reasons such as hateful content, identifying information or off-topic, and says the site does not always report back to the person who flagged. Law firm Minc Law adds that the menu has no defamation option, so it advises choosing "Other" and explaining, and says moderators cannot make legal determinations about defamation. The help center's article on false or defamatory reviews goes further: it says the site generally keeps such reviews up, cannot judge the evidence of the person asking for removal, and treats content decisions as within its sole discretion. A flag for falsity alone is therefore weak, so pair it with a rule the review also breaks.
Preparing a flag that a moderator can act on
  1. Capture the review firstTake a dated screenshot of the review, rating and page address.
  2. Match one ruleDecide which single rule the review breaks, such as a slur, an identifying detail, a claim of illegal conduct or the wrong person.
  3. Write two plain sentencesQuote the offending words and name the rule. Leave out feelings and the student's motives.
  4. Submit one flagWe found no source saying repeated flags help.
  5. Wait without reactingModeration has no public deadline, so allow a couple of weeks.
### What not to put in a flag Do not say you know who wrote the review, and do not name a student. Guessing at an author harms the student and your credibility. Do not ask colleagues to flag the same review in volume: no source we read says it helps, and it reads as pressure. One accurate flag is enough. If a review names a classmate or discloses a student's grade or circumstances, that is one of the clearest grounds in the sources we read, because it concerns a third party's privacy and not your feelings. Say so without copying the detail. ## Can a professor respond to a RateMyProfessors review Yes, if you register. The site's help center says a professor can register for a Professor account to post replies and clarifications on their own reviews. The Coursicle explainer says such a comment goes through moderation before it is attached to a review. The Wikipedia entry describes an earlier notes feature for professors who registered with a .edu email address. We did not read the sign-up requirements, so check them on the live site. If you reply, do it once and keep it short. A good reply thanks the student, adds one fact that gives context (for example, that a course changed format), and says nothing about the student. Do not argue about grades or reveal anything about a student's record; ask your institution what its rules allow. The reply is for the next reader, not the reviewer, and a calm, specific one reads better than a long defensive one. ## When a review is a personal attack or a false statement of fact An insult is a rule problem and a false statement of fact is a legal problem, so only the first can be solved with a flag. In general terms, defamation requires a false statement of fact that harms reputation. In the United States, the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in [Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/497/1) is the usual reference. Decided on June 21, 1990, it held that the First Amendment does not require a separate opinion privilege, so calling a statement opinion does not shield it if it implies provably false facts. On matters of public concern, a statement must be provably false before liability attaches, and statements that cannot reasonably be read as stating actual facts, such as rhetorical hyperbole, are protected. Whether a student review is a matter of public concern is a question for counsel, and state rules vary. These scenarios show the line. - "This professor is useless and the lectures put me to sleep." Opinion. Not actionable and not removable on that ground alone. - "This professor is a joke and should be fired." Hostile and possibly removable as a personal attack, but not a statement of fact. - "This professor changes grades for money." A checkable claim of misconduct. If false, it raises both a rule problem (an accusation of illegal conduct) and a possible legal one. - "This professor harassed me." A serious allegation. If you believe it is false, do not answer it on the site. Take it to your institution and counsel, because it may trigger a formal process. For a false accusation of crime or misconduct, flag it as an accusation, preserve the evidence, and tell your chair or HR office the same day. ## What your institution can and cannot do about a student review Your institution can give context and process, but it cannot normally make a third-party site remove a review. - **Chair or dean.** They can tell you how online ratings are treated in evaluation. - **HR or faculty affairs.** They advise on a defamation concern, a harassment allegation or a possible investigation. This is the right office for a serious accusation. - **Legal counsel.** University counsel usually acts for the institution, not for you personally. As an illustration, a California State University, Los Angeles policy on student input in academic personnel processes says anonymous or unsigned materials will not be considered, and directs signed written student statements to the department office or the dean's office. It does not mention online rating sites. This is one campus policy, not a national rule, so ask for yours in writing. An April 13, 2026 report in The State News quotes a communications director in a university provost's office saying external rating tools can lead to incomplete and inaccurate information about course outcomes. The same report carries faculty and administrator concern that anonymous ratings cannot confirm the reviewer took the course. Ask for the policy on online ratings in promotion and review, a named contact for defamation or harassment concerns, and a note on your file if a serious accusation is found baseless. ## Legal routes against a student review: what the law generally allows Law is the slowest and costliest route, and it applies only to false statements of fact. This section is general information, not legal advice, and the rules differ by country. ### United States [Section 230](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230) of the Communications Decency Act, in Title 47 of the United States Code, provides that providers and users of an interactive computer service are not treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another information content provider. That is why a rating site is generally not the target when a user posts something false. The statute's exceptions cover federal criminal law, intellectual property, state laws consistent with the section, communications privacy and certain sex trafficking claims. The text does not mention defamation. The site's help center cites this immunity and warns that suits over reviews could bring sanctions and an award of its legal fees; treat that as its position, not a legal rule. The person who can be pursued is the author. The Minc Law guide describes a demand letter from an attorney, which can sometimes prompt removal, and, if that fails, a John Doe suit in which a subpoena to the site seeks an anonymous poster's identity. It calls a lawsuit a last resort. A suit can also draw far more attention to the review than it had, the Streisand effect. ### England and Wales Under section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013, which the statute database marks as extending to England and Wales, a statement is not defamatory unless it has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the claimant's reputation. [Section 5](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/section/5) gives website operators a defence for statements posted by others. The defence is defeated if the claimant shows that the poster could not be identified, that a notice of complaint was given to the operator, and that the operator did not respond as the regulations require. It also fails if the claimant shows the operator acted with malice in relation to the posting. The Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 set the operator's steps after a notice; the page we read was truncated, so we did not confirm timescales. ### Elsewhere We did not read the defamation statutes of Australia, Canada or other countries for this guide, so we do not describe them. Ask local counsel about the test, the limitation period and the operator's position. Our [removal service](/remove-negative-content) page sets out the routes outside counsel's work. ## What search engines can and cannot do about a review A search engine can hide a page from some results, but it cannot delete the review. [Google's own help page](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9673730) states that Google can only remove things from its Search results, and that the content may stay reachable through links, social media or other search engines. The page says that where a concern falls outside Google's global policies, local laws may apply and a request can go through its legal help center. It describes full removal, and partial removal, where a page is hidden for searches that include your name. Ordinary opinion about your teaching is unlikely to meet a legal ground. Google's separate page on contacting a site owner says that taking content off a website generally requires the owner, so for a student review the decision sits with the rating site. A rating profile with your name on it can appear in results for your name. That is a visibility problem more than a removal problem. The lawful fix is to give search engines and readers better pages to find: a faculty page, a personal academic site, and society, publisher, conference or lab pages that carry your name. Our [suppression service](/suppress-negative-results) page explains the approach. ## Which route fits which review Match the route to what the review says, not to how it feels.
What the review isBest first routeChance of removalMain risk
Harsh opinion about teachingLeave it; add context elsewhereVery lowA reply draws attention
Insult or slur, no factsFlag as personal attack or hateful contentModerateNone with one flag
Names or identifies a studentFlag as identifying informationHigherRepeating the detail
Accuses you of crime or misconductPreserve evidence, tell chair or HR, flag, consider counselUncertainAn internal process
Wrong professor or courseFlag as the wrong personModerate to highWeak evidence
Written by you or a rivalFlag as a conflict of interestUncertainGuessing an author
False fact, flag refusedCounsel, demand letter, legal routeDepends on law and factsCost, Streisand effect
Whole profileAsk only if you no longer teach at the listed universityLowRequest ignored
The chance column is our judgment, not a statistic, of how closely each case matches the grounds the sources describe. No route is certain, and the site decides. ## A realistic timeline for a RateMyProfessors review Expect weeks for a flag and months for anything legal. These ranges are our estimates of how such matters usually run.
WhenWhat usually happensWhat you do
Day 1You find the reviewScreenshot it, then pause
Days 2 to 3You decide the categoryPick one rule, draft the flag, check the live guidelines
Days 3 to 5Flag submittedSubmit once; tell your chair if the claim is serious
Weeks 1 to 2Moderation often silent; one law firm guide reports days to a couple of weeksNothing public
Weeks 3 to 4Review removed, kept or unchangedRecord the outcome; decide on a reply or counsel
Months 2 to 3A lawyer's letter, if used, may draw a responseFollow counsel's lead
Months 3 to 12Owned pages start to appear beside the profilePublish and maintain faculty and academic pages
## A calm response framework, and your next step Respond in the order below, and stop at the first step that solves the problem.
Calm response sequence
  1. Pause for a dayDo not post, email the site or contact students.
  2. Sort the reviewOpinion, insult, identifying detail, accusation, wrong person or conflict of interest. Use the table above.
  3. Flag once if a rule appliesMatch one rule, state it in two plain sentences, and submit one flag.
  4. Tell your institution if it is seriousAccusations of misconduct go to your chair or HR the same day, before any public reply.
  5. Reply only if usefulOne short, courteous reply with one fact, if the site allows replies. Never mention a student.
  6. Build better pagesKeep your faculty profile current and publish an owned academic page, so the rating is one result among several.
  7. Consider counsel for a false factOnly when the statement is false, checkable and harmful, and only on your lawyer's advice.
Avoid contacting students to find the author, asking for coordinated flags, or rating yourself. The site's help center says professors may not rate themselves, so a self-rating breaks a rule as well as costing you credibility.
If this is happening to you now

Capture the evidence, do not reply publicly, and tell your chair if the claim is serious. If you want a second pair of eyes on what the review is, what can be flagged and what a search for your name shows, start with a private audit with Reputation Partners.

## Questions people ask ### Can a professor delete a RateMyProfessors review? Not on their own. The Coursicle explainer says professors cannot directly delete or edit reviews, and the site's help center says moderators remove only comments that violate its guidelines. A professor can flag a review or post a reply through a Professor account. Check the live help pages, because features can change. ### Will RateMyProfessors remove a review just because it is unfair? Unlikely. The site's help center says it does not remove ratings just because a professor disagrees with them. The sources describe removal for rule breaks such as hostility, identifying details or the wrong professor. A review that is negative, harsh or unfair about your teaching is generally an opinion the site keeps, however frustrating that is. ### Is a negative student review defamation? Only if it states a false fact that harms your reputation. Opinion and rhetorical hyperbole are treated differently. Whether a particular review qualifies depends on the country, the exact words and the evidence, so only a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction can tell you. ### Can I find out who wrote an anonymous review? Not by yourself and not by guessing. A law firm guide describes a John Doe action with a subpoena to the site, which needs a lawyer, a court and a strong claim. Naming a suspected student without proof harms both of you.