On the morning of June 23rd, it was reported that on June 22nd, Zhou Zhaocheng, the attorney representing the "case of Wang Shi suffering from large-scale online defamation," posted a "Reflection Letter on Wang Shi Suffering from Large-Scale Online Defamation, Urging Remediation of Infringing Information Relying on the 'Qinglang' Special Campaign" (hereinafter referred to as the "Reflection Letter") on a social platform. Subsequently, Wang Shi reposted it and stated: "I have always insisted on safeguarding my rights through legal channels. I hope to leverage this Qinglang special campaign to call for the protection of private entrepreneurs and foster a healthy online business environment."
In the Reflection Letter, Wang Shi pointed out, "Recently, hundreds of accounts have been fabricating false information in an organized and rhythmic manner, centrally publishing malicious smear campaigns and defamatory content targeting me across all platforms on the entire internet. Multiple false rumors have successively trended as top searches across the web, with the related content accumulating over a hundred million views in total, forming a sustained, large-scale online violence campaign."
Wang Shi stated, "This malicious public opinion has already caused significant actual damage: multiple cooperating financial institutions have suspended credit approval processes for me and associated enterprises; several core key personnel from the enterprises have resigned one after another; long-term, deeply cooperative business partners have also urgently terminated commercial negotiations; the normal operations of the enterprises have already been severely impacted; even some false information has been cited and republished by domestic and foreign media, causing serious damage to my commercial reputation and social evaluation. The related negative impact continues to spread, and economic losses are continuously expanding."
In the Reflection Letter, Wang Shi indicated that relevant rights protection work is currently being advanced simultaneously. On one hand, a report has been filed with the Shenzhen public security authorities; on the other hand, civil lawsuits for infringement of reputation rights and private prosecutions for criminal defamation have been initiated with the Shenzhen Yantian District People's Court. As of the date the letter was issued, all related cases have been formally filed.
Regarding the original intention of submitting the Reflection Letter, Zhou Zhaocheng posted stating that there are too many online infringing accounts, and rights protection against online violence has long faced difficulties in evidence collection. The procedures for obtaining the identity, IP addresses, and dissemination data of infringers are exceptionally cumbersome, and conventional judicial channels face significant resistance in obtaining evidence, making it difficult to trace the organizers behind the scenes.
Zhou Zhaocheng stated that Wang Shi wishes to use his own experience as a typical case to put forward two appeals: First, to clear all defamatory rumors across the entire internet and ban all violating accounts; to urge major platforms to lawfully transfer complete backend data to judicial authorities to accurately crack down on the rumor-mongering groups behind the scenes. Second, to urge platforms to strictly implement the "Cybersecurity Law" and the "Regulations on the Governance of Online Violence Information" to curb the chaos of industrial smear campaigns by black PR firms and internet water armies.
In April of this year, false rumors such as "Wang Shi arrested" spread online, along with derived misinformation like "being held accountable due to China Vanke Co.,Ltd.'s operational losses" and "missing and involved in criminal cases." Subsequently, both Wang Shi and Tian Pujun quickly refuted the rumors. At that time, Zhou Zhaocheng issued a lawyer's statement clarifying that Wang Shi's personal freedom was unrestricted, his work and life were in perfect order, and there was no situation of being subjected to compulsory measures or restriction of personal freedom by judicial authorities. Wang Shi had resigned from the position of Chairman of the Board of China Vanke Co.,Ltd. in June 2017 and no longer participated in the company's daily operations and management decisions. Inappropriately linking the company's operational status with Wang Shi personally and fabricating rumors of "being held accountable" is purely subjective conjecture and malicious smearing. Wang Shi is not in any situation of being held accountable by judicial authorities due to operational issues.
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