The Race to Redeem BYD’s Reputation: A Whopping $800,000 Reward Offered

According to BYD, the company is taking legal action against 37 influencers and monitoring 126 other social media accounts. These individuals are accused of spreading inaccurate information, negatively impacting the brand’s image, business operations, and reputation in the automotive industry.

Li Yunfei, Director of BYD’s Public Relations and Brand Management, stated that all related posts, comments, and discussion threads have been archived as evidence. “BYD welcomes constructive criticism but will take decisive action against libel and factual distortions,” Li asserted.

BYD also reiterated its policy of encouraging the community to counter misinformation. The company is offering rewards ranging from 50,000 to 5 million Chinese yuan (approximately 18.2 billion VND to 182 million VND) to individuals who provide authentic evidence regarding defamation of the company.

In the announcement, BYD stated that it has been the target of alleged organized media campaigns that spread misleading or false information, damaging the company’s reputation and affecting the new energy vehicle market. However, the company did not disclose detailed evidence to support its claim of coordinated efforts.

Several specific cases have been handled by the authorities. According to BYD, the Weibo account “Zhou Haoran Sean” was accused of spreading false information about BYD manipulating influencers to the disadvantage of its competitors. The court ordered the individual to publicly apologize and compensate BYD with 100,000 Chinese yuan (approximately 362 million VND).

The “AutoBiBiBi” account on the WeChat Video platform also had to apologize and pay the same amount of compensation for posting content deemed offensive to the company and its leaders.

Two other social media accounts, “Taodianchi” and “Yin Ge Jiang Dianche” (later renamed “Yin Ge Pujie Xinnengyuan”), were found to have spread inaccurate information about BYD’s product quality and safety. The court ruled this as unfair competition and ordered compensation of 60,000 Chinese yuan (approximately 218 million VND).

In addition to civil cases, several individuals have faced administrative or criminal penalties. “Samo XXX” was fined by the police for spreading unverified rumors about BYD’s financial risks. Another account, “Grape碎XXX,” was administratively detained for spreading misinformation about vehicle fires. Notably, a user named “Hoax” is under criminal investigation for repeatedly posting content deemed libelous by BYD.

BYD stated that it is pursuing legal proceedings in other cases as well. Some have already received court rulings, while many are still being processed.

None of the individuals on the sued or monitored lists have publicly responded to the matter so far. Detailed information related to the misleading content that led to the court rulings has also not been disclosed.

Through these legal actions, BYD reaffirms its commitment to using appropriate measures to protect its image and legitimate rights. The company also encourages the public to provide information to its News Fraud Office.

TH (Tuoitrethudo)