Chinese search engine Baidu apologises over fake message from grief-stricken father

News aggregator says it has deleted the post and fired the editor responsible

A family member told media it was not written by Zhang Jun, whose nine-year-old daughter’s body was found on Saturday

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The body of Zhang Zixin, 9, was found in waters off Ningbo on Saturday. Police said she was abducted by a couple surnamed Xie and Liang, whose bodies were recovered from a lake in the city on July 8. Photo: News.wmxa.cn

Published: 5:49pm, 14 Jul 2019Updated: 10:29pm, 14 Jul 2019

Baidu, China’s largest search engine, has apologised after its news aggregator posted a fake message claiming to be from the father of an abducted nine-year-old girl whose body was found on Saturday.

In a statement on Saturday evening, the company said it had wrongly published a message on an account without the owner’s consent and the editor responsible had been sacked.

“The editor on duty has seriously violated Baidu News management protocols and hurt the feelings of … our users. We feel deeply sorry and ashamed for that,” the statement said.

“We have deleted this post, immediately fired the editor responsible and will carry out a complete review of Baidu News’ management process.”

The apology followed an earlier statement from the news aggregator saying Zhang Jun – whose daughter was abducted on July 4 in a case that has gripped the nation – had authorised a public account to be created in his name.

A search had been under way for missing nine-year-old Zhang Zixin since Monday. Photo: Sohu

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