On June 21, the People's Court Announcement Network announced that in the case of the reputation rights dispute of TRON founder Sun Yuchen, Chongqing Business Media Group Co., Ltd. was found guilty of infringing Sun Yuchen's reputation rights and issued an apology statement. This case highlights the importance of the media's responsibility and professional ethics in information dissemination. Chongqing Business Media Group published false reports about Sun Yuchen without verifying the information, and ultimately lost the case due to infringement of reputation rights. This case emphasizes that the media should strictly abide by the principle of fact-checking when reporting to ensure the authenticity and fairness of news.
Case Background and Court Decision
On March 11, 2022, Chongqing Business Media Group published a report titled "FBI investigates Sun Yuchen, suspected of insider trading, Business News" on its Eastmoney website and Eastmoney APP. The report stated that Sun Yuchen was being investigated by the FBI for insider trading and other illegal activities. Sun Yuchen immediately sued Chongqing Business Media Group in the Yubei District Court of Chongqing, demanding that it stop the infringement, restore its reputation, eliminate the impact and apologize.
In the first instance judgment, the court found that Chongqing Business Media Group failed to fulfill its reasonable verification obligations before publishing the report, published false content, and violated Sun Yuchen's right to reputation. The court pointed out that the defendant media's actions caused Sun Yuchen's reputation to be damaged and his social evaluation to be reduced, which constituted an infringement of his right to reputation. Therefore, the court ruled that Chongqing Business Media Group should delete the relevant false reports, publicly apologize to Sun Yuchen in a nationally published newspaper, and compensate Sun Yuchen for notarization fees of 519.37 yuan.
Lack of media responsibility
The key to this case is that Chongqing Business Media Group failed to fulfill its reasonable verification obligations and released unverified information. The basic information of the media's report came from a report published by the American technology media The Verge in 2022. However, only the author of The Verge's report can prove its authenticity, and the relevant law enforcement agencies involved, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the FBI, have not confirmed the authenticity of the content of the report. The Yubei District Court of Chongqing City believes that this article alone cannot prove the fact that Sun Yuchen has committed illegal acts and is being investigated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. Therefore, the court determined that the defendant media's unauthorized publication of unverified reports constituted an infringement of Sun Yuchen's right to reputation.
Sun Yuchen said in the case that the relevant reports contained many basic factual errors. First, he 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 reports have long enjoyed a good reputation and have been working hard with regulators to improve compliance.
Reflection on media professional ethics
This case is not only a protection of Sun Yuchen's personal rights, but also a profound reflection on the professional ethics of the media. In the era of information explosion, the media has a huge social responsibility and must ensure the authenticity and fairness of information. The authenticity of news cannot be sacrificed for the pursuit of traffic. The responsibility of the media is to provide true and accurate information to help the public understand and analyze social events, rather than creating and spreading unconfirmed rumors.
After winning the case, Justin Sun 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 in pursuit of traffic.
Legal constraints on the media
This case also shows the important role of law in restraining media behavior. 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.
The legal ruling is not only a support for Justin Sun, but also a protection for all those who have been harmed by false reports. Through this ruling, the public and the media industry should work together to promote the construction of a responsible and healthy information dissemination environment and ensure that every report is based on truth, accuracy and fairness.
Sun Yuchen's victory in the defamation case not only vindicated his personal reputation, but also set a legal example for the general public, emphasizing the basic fact-checking principles that news reports must follow. In the process of information dissemination, the media should not only pursue the timeliness of news, but also the authenticity of news. The media should strictly abide by professional ethics and laws and regulations to ensure that the information is true, accurate and fair. Through the judgment of this case, the media industry should strengthen its own review and verification mechanism to avoid legal liability for false information.
