Hainan drug firm sues Tencent over derogatory posting

WeChat, now China's biggest instant messaging platform, is expanding its horizons and has become a primary e-commerce platform in its own right.[Provided to China Daily]

According to Guosen Securities Co Ltd, annual sales of nimesulide were about 100 million yuan ($16 million) between 2012 and 2014.

Honz is the largest nimesulide producer in China.

"With the rapid development of social media, which is represented by WeChat, rumors go viral due to the incomplete oversight system. It is quite difficult to monitor users' behavior and words on social media, let alone take any regulatory or administrative steps.

"If there are no effective measures taken soon, there will be more individuals and companies that are harmed by rumors. The task of refuting rumors will also become even more difficult," the company said in the response.

However, there appears to be a silver lining for the company. The Supreme People's Court in October issued a judicial interpretation regarding Internet infringement, in which the plaintiff could order the Internet service provider to give the name, contact information and Internet address of an Internet user who is suspected of infringement.

"Technically speaking, all the requirements set by Honz can be met," said Liu Haiyang, partner of the Guangzhou-based Guangda Law Firm, who is the attorney for Honz in this case.

"Tencent has the obligation to delete, screen out and break the links of the false information as an Internet service provider. As there is no precedent of a similar case, the case from Honz is very likely to set a precedent for later Internet infringement cases."