iQiyi sues Douban for user “libel” surrounding food show fight

This morning, Beijing’s Haidian District court said that it has accepted a suit by streaming giant iQiyi against entertainment platform Douban. iQiyi claims that three Douban users published libelous accounts about a fight that broke out on the set of a celebrity cooking show, 奇妙的食光 (our translation: Wonderful “Food” Times), this past September.

As compensation, the streaming site demands that Douban delete the articles, make a public apology, pay RMB 500,000, and provide identifying information of the three users. In the Beijing court post, the plaintiff claims that the articles defamed the company by associating its employees with accusations of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and unfairly ganging up on a female fan, among other things. It says that these allegations are untrue.

At the time of publication, the posts on Douban in question were nowhere to be found. TechNode was not able to ascertain the actual nature of the libel nor find any evidence suggesting the basis for iQiyi’s libel suit, other than the allegations made in the suit. We will update if any such evidence surfaces.

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