- BYD has reportedly sued 37 influencers in China, claiming they have made defamatory comments.
- The manufacturer has a News Anti-Fraud department where people can send tips about possible defamation and get rewards.
- Companies suing influencers for potentially damaging their image is far more common in China than it is in the West.
The relationship between automakers and the people who create content with their vehicles can sometimes be tense. However, it seldom results in legal action taken against them, and requests to change or remove content are usually about as extreme as it gets.
But not if you’re covering the world’s fastest-growing automaker over the last few years, BYD, which is reportedly taking 37 influencers to court over things they said that it deems defamatory.
CarNewsChina says BYD has also added 126 content creators to an internal watch list, and they will be monitored in the future, potentially also facing legal action from the automaker if they say something that the company sees as damaging to its image. The carmaker created a “News Anti-Fraud Office” a few years ago and it’s encouraging people to send tips about potentially damaging content.
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To encourage tip-offs about potential smear campaigns, BYD is offering substantial bonuses—50,000 to 5 million yuan ($6,900 to $690,000)—for credible leads. The source lists several examples of why BYD sued influencers. In one instance, a person accused the company of manipulating content creators to say negative things about rival brands.
The court concluded that the influencer was required to make a public apology and pay a fine of 100,000 yuan (around $13,800). Another influencer was fined after making claims that BYD was financially unstable and on the verge of bankruptcy.
All of these fines pale in comparison to the August 2023 lawsuit launched by Nissan Dongfeng against an influencer who had posted over 50 videos on TikTok denigrating the automaker’s vehicles. He was asked to pay 5 million yuan in reparations to the manufacturer. In 2022, Tesla also took a Chinese influencer to court, demanding 5 million yuan in reparations, but eventually settled for a lot less.
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