On June 21, according to the People's Court Announcement Network, Chongqing Business Media Group Co., Ltd., the defendant in the TRON founder Sun Yuchen's reputation dispute case, officially issued an apology statement to Sun Yuchen. The statement stated that because its media failed to fulfill its review and verification obligations in its 2022 reports, it published false content about Sun Yuchen, which damaged Sun Yuchen's reputation. In the statement, the media company solemnly apologized for its infringement of Sun Yuchen's reputation rights and promised to strengthen review in future reports to ensure that the articles are accurate and credible.
The case originated from the fact that on March 11, 2022, the defendant Chongqing Business Media Group published a content titled "FBI investigates Sun Yuchen, suspected of insider trading, Business News" on its Eastmoney.com and Eastmoney APP. Sun Yuchen then sued it to the Yubei District Court of Chongqing. The court's first-instance judgment determined that the media had failed to fulfill its verification obligations, infringed Sun Yuchen's right to reputation, and made relevant rulings. It is reported that after the first trial, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant appealed within the prescribed time limit. So far, the case of the reputation dispute between Sun Yuchen and Chongqing Business Media Group has come to an end with the plaintiff Sun Yuchen winning the case and the defendant media publicly apologizing.
"The defendant failed to fulfill its reasonable verification obligations and published relevant false content without authorization, which to a certain extent caused damage to the plaintiff's reputation and reduced social evaluation, infringing the plaintiff's right to reputation and should bear corresponding tort liability." The Yubei District People's Court of Chongqing said in the judgment.
Failure to fulfill verification obligations led to loss of case
The first-instance judgment determined that the defendant Chongqing Business Media Group failed to fulfill its verification obligation in its reports, infringing on the plaintiff Sun Yuchen's right to reputation. The judgment required the defendant to delete the false reports, publicly apologize to Sun Yuchen in a nationally published newspaper, and compensate Sun Yuchen for notarization fees of 519.37 yuan.
The court verdict obtained by the media from relevant channels shows that the key to Chongqing Business Media Group's defeat was that it failed to fulfill its obligation to verify the relevant reporting content.
The basic information for the relevant reports of Chongqing Business Media Group comes from a report published by the American technology media The Verge in 2022.
But in fact, if you read the original English report, you will find that the author has specifically stated in the article that he cannot get confirmation of the relevant content from the SEC, IRS, FBI, and the Attorney General's Office for the Southern District of New York, which has a strong sense of disclaimer.
However, many domestic media and self-media intentionally or unintentionally ignored this important reminder and directly regarded the content that the author of the article could not verify as fact. This also includes the defendant in this case, Chongqing Business Media Group.
As for the content of the report of the technology media, Sun Yuchen actually responded at the time. He said that there were many basic factual errors in the revelations in the relevant reports. First of all, Sun Yuchen himself does not live in the United States, is not an American, is not involved in any US tax issues, and is not likely to be investigated by the so-called IRS and FBI. In addition, the exchanges involved in the report have long enjoyed a good reputation and have been working hard with regulators to improve compliance.
However, the above public response did not appear in the relevant content reports of Chongqing Business Media Group.
The Yubei District Court of Chongqing believes that only the author of The Verge's report can prove the authenticity of the relevant content, and the relevant law enforcement agencies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Internal Revenue Service and the FBI have not confirmed the authenticity of the content of the report. Therefore, the above article alone cannot prove the fact that Sun Yuchen has committed illegal acts and is being investigated by the US Internal Revenue Service and the FBI, and that he has evaded legal sanctions.
Therefore, the Yubei District Court of Chongqing pointed out in the judgment that in this case, the defendant media published unverified reports without authorization, which constituted an infringement on the plaintiff Sun Yuchen's right to reputation and should bear the corresponding tort liability. Sun Yuchen has the right to demand that the infringement be stopped, his reputation be restored, the impact be eliminated, and an apology be made, and he can also ask Chongqing Business Media Group to compensate for the losses.
The legal risks of blindly citing unverified information
Commentators believe that Sun Yuchen's victory in the defamation case is a comprehensive refutation of many false rumors surrounding him on the Internet, and also has a certain deterrent and warning effect on the spread of subsequent related rumors. Through this case, the public was able to dispel the fog of false information and restore a more realistic image of Sun Yuchen.
Sun Yuchen said that in the current context of information explosion, personal reputation rights should be given more attention and protection. This judgment not only vindicates his personal reputation, but also provides a legal case for protecting citizens' personal reputation rights. The media should abide by basic facts and professional procedures when reporting, and should not sacrifice the authenticity and fairness of news for traffic.
This case also shows that many domestic media and self-media blindly cite some external unverified information, which may bring legal risks to themselves once it is determined to be infringement.
The aforementioned commentator said that the verdict in Sun Yuchen's reputation case not only reflects the legal protection of personal reputation rights, but also reflects society's expectations for media responsibility and professional ethics. The public and the media industry should work together to promote the construction of a more responsible and healthy information dissemination environment.
