赔偿2万元、道歉15天，法院就东方甄选维权案做出判决

This article presents the first-instance verdict in the defamation lawsuit filed by East Buy against self-media accounts for spreading rumors, while sorting out similar cases and clarifying boundaries for online speech for ordinary internet users and self-media creators.

1. In this case, Chen Mou, operator of the account "Dora", spread rumors that East Buy's self-operated tomahawk鸡腿 was found with live maggots. The court ruled that Chen had infringed on East Buy's right of reputation, ordering her to remove infringing content, post a public apology at the top of her accounts on two platforms for no less than 15 days, and pay 20,000 yuan in compensation to East Buy.

2. East Buy has previously sued multiple rumor spreaders, ranging from influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers to small accounts with only over 100 followers. All were found liable for infringement, with compensation ranging from 20,000 yuan to 201,000 yuan.

3. A reminder for all online users: The internet is not a law-free zone. Those who exercise public criticism and supervision must provide factual evidence. Fabricating rumors to stigmatize brands is prohibited; even rumors from small accounts can cause great harm, and spreaders will bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

This article provides a actionable reference and legal support for consumer brands, especially self-operated brands, to safeguard their reputation against online rumors.

1. It clarifies a key feature of corporate-targeted online rumors: the harm of a rumor does not depend on the size of the account spreading it. As long as the rumor touches sensitive public trust points such as food safety, it can spread rapidly and widely. Even a 100-follower account can push a single rumor post to over 340,000 views and drag down a brand's public reputation, so brands must take this risk seriously.

2. Brands can learn from East Buy's closed-loop rights protection model: instead of only issuing a public clarification statement, brands should adopt a complete process of "official clarification video + civil litigation + enforcement announcement", forcing rumor spreaders to bear multiple penalties including content removal, public apology, compensation and enforcement records, so as to effectively safeguard brand reputation.

3. Clear policy and legal support is currently available: The Central Cyberspace Administration's "Clear Up: Optimize Business-oriented Online Environment" special campaign lists spreading negative rumors at key corporate milestones as a primary target for rectification, and the Private Sector Promotion Law protects the online personal and reputation rights of private enterprises. With multiple similar winning precedents across the country, brands have clear legal basis for rights protection.

This article clarifies the risks of online rumors, as well as the policy basis and actionable response methods for online and offline sellers.

1. Risk warning: Common current rumor schemes include intercepting corporate information, wrapping it in emotionally charged language, and targeting high-profile brands to gain traffic. The harm of a rumor has no correlation with the size of the account spreading it. As long as it touches sensitive consumer concerns such as food safety, it can spiral out of control quickly and cause reputational and financial damage to sellers. Even small and medium-sized sellers cannot afford to underestimate this risk.

2. Clear policy and legal orientation: The Central Cyberspace Administration has launched a special rectification campaign that prioritizes cracking down on negative hype targeting enterprises during key periods including earnings releases and new product launches. The Private Sector Promotion Law explicitly prohibits defamation and infringement on the rights and interests of private enterprises, and multiple similar winning precedents have been set across China, giving sellers clear legal and policy support for rights protection.

3. Actionable response framework: Sellers can follow East Buy's closed-loop response model. When facing rumors, do not only issue a clarification statement; instead, pursue full-process accountability combining official clarification, legal action, and public announcement of enforcement results, to minimize reputational damage.

This article offers valuable insights and clear direction for consumer goods manufacturers, especially food producers, in brand building and public opinion response.

1. Consumer trust in food safety and product quality is extremely fragile. Factories should implement standardized management in production links and retain complete, publicly verifiable production records. East Buy was able to quickly publish production diaries to clarify the rumor, which relied entirely on its complete production records. This preparedness helps factories quickly prove their innocence when facing public opinion crises.

2. As more factories build their own brands and expand into e-commerce, they must stay alert to the risk of online rumors: even rumors posted by small accounts can spread rapidly and damage brand image and sales. Factories must not leave rumors unaddressed, and should proactively pursue rights protection.

3. Current laws and policies explicitly support enterprises in cracking down on online rumors. Factories can reference East Buy's closed-loop rights protection model, combining public clarification and legal accountability to force rumor spreaders to bear the cost of their actions, protect product market reputation, and safeguard long-term brand development.

This article points out current client pain points, industry trends, and actionable solution directions for service providers offering PR, legal and public opinion response services to enterprises.

1. Core client pain point: A growing number of consumer goods companies are facing online rumor-based extortion and defamation. These rumors spread quickly and cause severe damage. Many enterprises have traditionally relied only on public statements for clarification, which delivers poor results, and lack knowledge on how to effectively pursue accountability and recover reputation, leaving a clear unmet market demand.

2. Clear industry trend: Regulators have stepped up rectification efforts, with the Central Cyberspace Administration launching the special "Clear Up" campaign to improve the online business environment, and laws explicitly supporting enterprise rights protection. Demand for professional rumor response and rights protection services will continue to grow, leaving considerable room for development in this track.

3. Reference solution: Service providers can draw on East Buy's closed-loop model of "official clarification + civil litigation + enforcement announcement" to provide clients with full-process services from public opinion response to legal accountability, helping clients minimize losses caused by rumors, while helping them build long-term public opinion risk response mechanisms.

This article offers clear insights for content platforms and e-commerce platforms on operation management, risk mitigation and merchant recruitment optimization.

1. Key issue requiring attention: A large number of rumor-based posts targeting enterprises exist on platforms. These posts are inherently emotionally charged and prone to widespread dissemination, which undermines the platform's business environment, harms the interests of settled merchants, and may also bring compliance risks to the platform itself. Platforms must take this governance issue seriously.

2. Direction aligned with regulatory requirements: The Central Cyberspace Administration's special campaign explicitly requires rectification of rumor-mongering and negative hype targeting enterprises at key business milestones. Platforms need to respond to regulatory requirements, improve content rules, and strengthen inspection and removal of rumor content to mitigate their own compliance risks.

3. Direction for platform optimization: Platforms can cooperate with judicial rulings to promptly remove infringing content, introduce clear rules to discipline rumor-spreading accounts, and build a healthier business environment. This will in turn attract more high-quality brand merchants to settle on the platform, improve merchant trust in the platform, and support the platform's long-term development.

This article reflects new trends and new cases in the current governance of online business environment, providing valuable research materials for researchers in related fields.

1. It sorts out a new form of online rumor: the emerging rumor scheme involves intercepting publicly available corporate information, wrapping it in emotionally charged language, and targeting high-profile brands to gain traction. The harm of this type of rumor does not depend on the size of the spreading account, but only on whether it touches the public's sensitive nerves. This is a new emerging issue in the fields of online public opinion and business environment governance that deserves in-depth research.

2. It summarizes new trends in current governance: The judiciary has taken a consistent stance on this type of rumor-mongering, ruling that all rumor spreaders, whether large influencers or small account operators, are liable for infringement and must bear corresponding legal costs, filling the gap in illegal cost for such acts. Meanwhile, targeted regulatory rectification and clear legal provisions have formed a collaborative "regulation + judiciary" governance framework, which is a new change in the governance space.

3. East Buy's closed-loop rights protection model has formed a new sample of corporate rights protection, where enterprises shift from passive clarification to proactive full-chain accountability. The demonstration effect and promotion value of this model also deserve further research.