A blogger posted thousands of pieces of content that insulted and defamed the Nio brand and its users over a period of more than a year.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has won yet another lawsuit, marking one of its latest victories in defense of its reputation.
Nio recently received a first instance court ruling in which Ren Jianhua was found to have seriously infringed on the company's rights with the content he posted, according to a statement by the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker's legal department last night.
Ren, through his Toutiao account “小老头” and his Dongchedi account “快乐仁者爱任” posted thousands of insulting and defamatory content about the Nio brand and its users over a period of more than a year, according to the statement.
Toutiao, one of China's largest news and information content platforms, and Dongchedi, an automotive media platform, are both units of ByteDance.
Ren has removed all of his infringing content and has been ordered to apologize for no less than 60 days and compensate Nio for its financial losses, according to the EV maker's statement, which did not mention the amount of compensation.
For other content that maliciously attacked Nio and Onvo, the company has documented evidence and has taken legal action, including litigation, Nio said.
Nio has donated all the compensation it previously received through its defense of its rights to education, typhoon relief and other charity causes, and will continue to do so in the future, it said.
In the past few years, with the rise of algorithm-dependent content distribution platforms, including Toutiao, and short-form video platforms, including Douyin, it has become easy for everyone to become a media outlet.
This change in the media landscape has made it easier for businesses to spread their message, but they also face greater challenges in dealing with inaccurate and negative information.
Nio opened accounts dedicated to its legal department on May 8, 2023, on platforms including Weibo and Douyin, and has begun to increase its efforts to combat false information and information involving reputation infringement.
Last year, Nio won a number of reputation infringement cases, the most high-profile of which was when Douyin account @小牛说车 was ordered to apologize and compensate Nio for financial losses totaling more than RMB 600,000 ($83,590).
($1 = RMB 7.1778)
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