Top Chinese dating site Baihe’s shares fall after WePhone founder’s suicide sparks questions over data verification
The death of Su Xiangmao, 37, sparked online debate about whether dating sites are accountable for verifying users’ personal data
Shares of Baihe.com, which owns China’s largest online dating website, plunged by almost half after the site was accused of failing to verify personal information about a woman who allegedly drove her ex-husband, a successful technology entrepreneur, to suicide.
Su Xiangmao, 37, the founder of the Skype-like WePhone app, killed himself last Thursday and left a note accusing his ex-wife of lying when they met through jiayuan.com’s VIP service and blackmailing him when their one-month marriage ended. He said Zhai Xinxin had lied about her age, marital history and other details in her online profile.
Zhai could not be contacted for comment, and the Post was unable to independently verify the allegations against her.
Baihe.com’s shares dropped sharply on Wednesday after Su’s death sparked fierce online debate about whether dating sites should be held accountable for verifying members’ data, with many blaming jiayuan.com for not doing so in Zhai’s case.
The stock traded as low as 3.6 yuan, down 48 per cent, on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, China’s over-the-counter stock market for start-ups. It later recovered some ground, closing 19 per cent lower at 5.68 yuan.
On Thursday morning, the stock fell further, down 37 per cent to trade at 3.6 yuan.