‘Girls, protect yourselves’: Chinese woman cyberbullied for Porsche purchase in full calls police, gets an apology in rare victory
- The woman was called a prostitute, among other accusations, after she shared details of the car on Weibo
- After she contacted the police, one of the bullies was tracked down and forced to apologise in a rare victory for victims
A Chinese woman who was cyberbullied after posting details of a Porsche she paid for in full has received a public apology from one of the bullies following her report to the police.
The woman, surnamed Cheng, was called a prostitute, among other accusations, after she shared on Weibo in July that she had bought a Porsche outright with several pictures of the car along with a Gucci handbag inside.
Li Jun, a man behind two Weibo accounts that accused Cheng of gaining her wealth by sleeping with rich men in a series of posts, was tracked down by authorities. He was ordered to apologise after Cheng called the police, she announced on Weibo on Wednesday.
Cheng, who owns a hotpot restaurant in Anqing, Anhui, southeast China, said her fortune was self-made and decided to go to the police after the internet shaming became too much.
“I hope you girls can collect evidence and come forward bravely when encountering cyberbullying. Protect yourselves with legal weapons. Silence will only help these evil trends grow,” she wrote in her post and shared Li’s apology letter.
Li, who was investigated on suspicion of defamation, apologised in the letter for using two accounts to make “disrespectful remarks” about Cheng after reading her car purchase post.
In screenshots of his previous comments, he attacked Cheng with various offensive words and claimed she obtained her money through prostitution, a crime in China.
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“Talking about a Porsche all the time would be enough evidence to prove you’re a prostitute,” one of his remarks said.
Despite the light punishment Li received, the case is a rare victory for victims amid rampant cyberbullying in China in recent years.
Under Chinese law, making a defamatory online comment could be a crime if it’s viewed more than 5,000 times or shared 500 times or more.
However, it’s often difficult for a victim to take someone to court as it’s hard to track down and prove the identity of the people behind social media accounts.
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His adoptive family hired a lawyer to sue the online bullies but are still waiting for a court hearing, according to his adoptive aunt.
