Taiwan star Jay Chou to use mainland Chinese law to stop rumours
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's agency will make use of the mainland's controversial new law to stop online rumours to stamp out the circulation of unfounded information about the star.
JVR Music said yesterday it would take legal action against anyone circulating rumours about the singer on the mainland in accordance with an interpretation of laws to control online information issued this month by the mainland's top court and prosecution body.
"Since 2006, there have been a number of boring, unfounded and absurd rumours about Chou, such as stories told to the Japanese media that he was a Japanese descendant or about him not being a charitable person," a JVR official said by phone.
She said that Chou originally did not care about these fabrications, but that recent rumours about him circulating online and through text messages had turned malicious and had seriously damaged his image.
"The company thus decided to seize upon the September judicial interpretation, hoping to put an end to such absurd online rumours," the official said.
She said Juicy Music, which represents Chou on the mainland, would also keep an eye on such rumours on the mainland and take legal action accordingly.
"Also, many [of Chou's] fans have alerted us from time to time when rumours were spread," she said, adding that so far the company had not taken any legal action since it announced on Tuesday that it would use the mainland rules.
According to the judicial interpretation, a libellous online post that is forwarded more than 500 times or viewed more than 5,000 times could land its author in jail for up to three years.
In its statement on Tuesday, JVR said Chou was annoyed by the growing online attacks against him. The company denied the rumour that he had identified himself as a Japanese descendant, stressing Chou's love of Chinese music and his efforts to promote it.
The statement also clarified that Chou had donated more than NT$149 million (HK$39 million) to victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, not the rumoured NT$250,000.