Typical cases of Internet rumors

Some self-media on WeChat have become "amplifiers" of rumors and false information. The harm caused by these rumors to real life and society far exceeds the damage caused by the so-called risks to people's health.

——Chen Junshi, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and General Counsel of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

Six-winged KFC chicken, Master Kong gutter oil, Wahaha botulinum...recently, these food rumors It has continuously become a popular push content on nearly a hundred WeChat public accounts, and has been popular in the circle of friends.

“In the first quarter of 2015 alone, some products suffered a loss of 2 billion yuan.” Wahaha publicly stated that rumors spread on WeChat and other online platforms not only caused huge harm to the brand, but also caused a decline in market sales. suffered a serious decline.

In the face of repeated attacks by rumors, since April, giants such as Wahaha, Master Kong, and KFC have taken the operating companies behind WeChat accounts suspected of spreading rumors to court, demanding compensation for financial losses.

This time, major food companies sued more than ten WeChat public account operating companies, with a total claim amount of more than 61 million yuan. This is also the first online food rumor claim case in recent years.

Further investigation found that the use of WeChat public accounts to spread rumors has shown a trend of corporate operation, and behind it is a clear business model for various WeChat operating companies to profit from rumors, including some large food companies. Concocting rumors and malicious competition. In October 2014, the WeChat official account "Miqier" published "Nongfu Spring has stopped production. I don't dare to drink this water anymore!" I want to buy a water machine! "The article, with pictures and texts, claimed that Nongfu Spring's natural drinking water was seriously polluted and had been discontinued. Once launched, it received more than 100,000 retweets in a short period of time.

The reporter from the Beijing News checked the past WeChat content of "Miqi'er" and found that compared with the Nongfu Spring article, the number of forwardings of its ordinary WeChat content is usually around several thousand times, and more than 100,000 times. The number of forwards made Miqier’s official account gain unprecedented attention.

Nongfu Spring couldn’t hold it any longer and took Wuxi Italina Trading Co., Ltd., the company behind “Michelle”, to court. According to the industrial and commercial information of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, Wuxi Yitelina Trading Co., Ltd. was registered in 2006. The corporate legal person is Zhang Xia, with a registered capital of 30,000 yuan. Its business projects include jewelry, handicrafts, daily necessities, cosmetics, economic and trade consulting, etc.

According to information registered by Italina on the China Manufacturing Trading Network, the company was engaged in women's accessories in the early days and owned a crown-level reputable store on Taobao Mall.

The latest official certification date of "Michelle" is March 24, 2015. Judging from the WeChat content pushed, Italina's business has shifted to the direct sales brand "Infinitus" as a whole. operation. Since it owns cosmetics, health care products, water purifiers and other products, beauty and health content has become the focus of "Miqier".

"Breast milk poisons babies, ignorance kills people", "8 early danger signs of cancer" "Stay away from milk tea, love life!" "Don't drink anymore." Judging from these WeChat titles and content, "Miqier"'s push method mainly relies on health warnings, reminders, etc. to attract readers to read and forward.

The Beijing News reporter contacted Wuxi Italina Trading Co., Ltd. as a public relations company. The person in charge of its official account, Lin, told the reporter that the main purpose of opening the "Miqier" official account was to promote "Infinitus" "product.

When asked whether he could spend money to push specific content, he offered a price of 800 yuan per article. If it was made into headlines, the price would be higher, but the number of reads and forwards was not guaranteed. After combing through multiple WeChat accounts suspected of spreading rumors, a reporter from the Beijing News found that WeChat promotion has become corporatized and chain-oriented. Many WeChat public accounts have become the main business of the companies behind them. Most of the public accounts involved have parent companies behind them, and the same company owns dozens or even hundreds of public accounts to promote the spread of rumors.

The 10 WeChat public accounts sued by KFC belong to 3 companies, namely Shenzhen Yingchen Anzhi Chenggong Culture Communication Co., Ltd., Taiyuan Zero Point Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanxi Wei Lukang Technology Co., Ltd.

A reporter from the Beijing News noticed that there were six public accounts under Shenzhen’s “Ying Chen Anzhi Chenggong” that reprinted rumors about KFC’s weird chicken.

Shanxi Weilukang Technology Co., Ltd. also has nearly 10 public accounts, such as "Weilukang", "Cold Humorous Jokes", "Weilukang Traffic Eyes", "Inspirational Quotations on Life Insights", etc. A reporter from the Beijing News tried to call the company's public mobile phone, and even the prompt message of the mobile phone number was "Taiyuan's largest micro-marketing alliance."

With the intensive prosecution of many WeChat official accounts, more WeChat alliances and WeChat marketing circles have surfaced. A person in charge of a Guangdong marketing company who did not want to be named said that, just like the "Fujian Gang" on Weibo, such WeChat operating companies are currently concentrated in Guangdong, Fujian and other southern China regions, and have extended their tentacles across the country and are beginning to take shape. scale.

“The business model is to teach and guide. When a marketing company develops nearly ten influential WeChat public accounts in the province, it will also develop nearly ten public accounts to target other cities across the country. Local development agents and operators will join,” the person said.

The rumor attack that Wahaha encountered "Shuangwaiwai, AD calcium milk contains botulinum toxin" was the result of the promotion of WeChat marketing company.

Hangzhou court public hearing information shows that the originator of this rumor is Yu Qiuhong, a woman from Jilin. In January this year, she posted on Tencent Weibo that "Wahaha AD Calcium Milk and Shuang Wai Wai contain botulinum toxin." article. On April 10, Wuhan Xinzhongchang Trading Co., Ltd. released "Just posted by the kindergarten teacher!" through the official account "Dudu Childhood"! "All mothers, please turn around and watch your babies", claiming that Wahaha "contains botulinum toxin". On the same day, Guangzhou Mosi Network Technology Co., Ltd. published an article "More and more children are getting leukemia in Shiling, and the reason is so alarming" through the "Weishiling" public account, claiming that "drinking Wahaha drinks can cause leukemia."

The Beijing News reporter noticed that Guangzhou Mosi Network Technology Co., Ltd. owns WeChat public accounts such as Weishiling and Huadu Daye, with more than 100,000 fans. The person in charge, Lin, claimed that it is the Guangdong branch of WeMedia, the largest WeChat marketing alliance in South China. The alliance has nearly 500 WeChat public accounts with a coverage of 50 million fans. On June 3, a reporter from the Beijing News contacted the sued Yingkou Feiyi Network Technology Co., Ltd., Wuxi Wujidao Health Consulting Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Mosi Network Technology Co., Ltd., and the other parties gave a consistent reply: the rumors were published on WeChat The articles are all casually forwarded online news.

“The news about Master Kong’s use of gutter oil was just reprinted from the website and was not a paid advertisement. We received complaints after it was posted and we have deleted the relevant link.” First published on April 27 A person in charge of the "Hot Search" article about Master Kang's gutter oil told the Beijing News reporter.

Another Taiyuan Zero Point Technology Company, which was sued for spreading "live maggots in KFC chicken wings", also claimed that it had unintentionally forwarded it. A person in charge surnamed Liang said that the article published on the WeChat public account was a reprint of content broadcast by a TV station in Guangdong. "We just saw the news about being sued by KFC from the Internet, so we had no choice but to respond."

In fact, the "casual forwarding" insisted by the public account involved has become a common profit-making method in the industry. It is a standard practice for WeChat marketing to use exaggerated titles and content to gain a large number of fans and communication volume, and then make money through corporate advertising fees.

A promoter responsible for the operation of multiple WeChat accounts in Shenzhen told the Beijing News reporter that adapting and piecing together online content is a common marketing technique. "The more sensational the title content, the better. Blur the place where the incident occurred, or directly change it to the local area. Or use topics created by other WeChat promoters, copy them and spread them again. This kind of regional posts have a very high reading volume."

The ultimate goal of painstakingly concocting rumors is still to gain fans and grab advertising fees. In the WeChat marketing circle, public accounts generally have more than tens of thousands of fans, which has certain advertising value, and business owners will naturally come to them.

Dong Mou, the head of "Yingkou Self-Media" who was indicted for spreading rumors about Master Kong, revealed to the Beijing News reporter that advertising through companies is still the main profit model, and companies such as watches and facial masks have taken the initiative. If you come to your door, the advertising price is generally about 150 to 300 yuan/10,000 fans. "Yingkou Self-Media" has more than 80,000 fans, and the price for advertising in the headlines of its public accounts is around 2,000 yuan. "For some public accounts with 100,000 fans, the advertising price is around 3,000 yuan per article." During an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News , for some concentrated online rumors, many food companies first pointed the finger of suspicion at their competitors. But these require further police investigation.

“Gutter oil rumors appeared on the Internet last year, but they broke out again during the May Day holiday this year.” Li Yilin, spokesperson of Master Kong Holdings Co., Ltd., told reporters that in just a few days, the number of reprints exceeded More than 600 times, with more than one million reads, the time point and motivation of the outbreak are questionable. "Such an organized and huge number of rumor attacks that broke out in a short period of time should be promoted by the mastermind behind the scenes."

Wahaha said that the recent rumors attacking the products of beverage companies were "spread by criminals with ulterior motives. We have collected some information about online trolls and used them as evidence for further rights protection."

Master Kong also The statement pointed out that the current market competition in the food industry has become red, which has led to a vicious competition that uses online rumors to attack opponents.

This approach is not without precedent. Last year, Master Kong went to court with its rival Uni-President Group due to rumors and attacks.

According to the 2014 filing documents for Master Kong’s lawsuit against Uni-President, in August last year, Zhou, an employee of Hubei Xiaogan Uni-President Enterprise Food Co., Ltd., published consecutively on the Tianya Forum and the Huaiyin Forum that “Japanese-funded products are not trustworthy and defy the heavens.” "Master Kong" and "Master Kong, you shocked all my friends" posts claimed that Master Kong marked the production date of instant noodles in advance and called for a boycott of the Japanese product Master Kong.

In the materials submitted by Master Kong to the court, Zhou Weini was warned and punished by the public security agency for fabricating facts and spreading rumors. At the same time, Master Kong also sued Uni-President Group and Zhou Weini, saying that he instructed employees to spread rumors that defamed Master Kong on the Internet, which caused Master Kong's sales to be seriously affected in the quarter, and demanded compensation for corresponding economic losses.

The Beijing News reporter saw in the evidence submitted to the court by both parties that Zhou claimed that the use of WeChat Moments to repost was arranged by the company. Uni-President Company has more than 110 employees in the Xiaogan area. It stipulates that salesmen must communicate through WeChat and has set up a special WeChat group to issue work instructions. Regarding Master Kong’s post, after Uni-President employees communicated in the group for half a day, everyone from the director to the manager forwarded it to their Moments.

On May 26 this year, Xiaogan City South District Court ruled that Zhou, an employee of Uni-President Company, must publicly apologize to Master Kong for 30 consecutive days and compensate Master Kong 13,000 yuan.

As for the motivation for spreading rumors about Master Kong, Uni-President employees argued in response to the lawsuit that it was for market competition purposes, "We sell Uni-President instant noodles, and we are very concerned about the negative information about Master Kong instant noodles. After all, we sell Uni-President instant noodles." They are competitors. If Master Kong’s business is bad, my business will be better. Anyway, anything that harms Master Kong will be good for our Uni-President Instant Noodles business.”

On the 8th, Uni-President Group Mainland. Spokesperson Yang Shouzheng replied to the Beijing News reporter that he had "no idea" about the matter.

Can a claim of more than 61 million yuan stop the rumors?

From emails, forums, Weibo, and then WeChat, KFC’s “6 wings and 8 legs”, Master Kong’s “Vietnamese gutter oil”, and Wahaha’s “botulinum toxin” have actually been circulated for a long time, but recently they have been WeChat official accounts spread quickly again through processing and production.

According to data provided by KFC officials to reporters from the Beijing News, as of the end of April, KFC *** discovered that there were more than 4,000 pieces of content on WeChat public accounts, of which more than 130 accounts had more than 100,000 posts read. Based on this number, this "negative information" about KFC has been forwarded at least 13 million times.

The rumor about Master Kong’s gutter oil that appeared during the May Day holiday this year. As of May 6, this information was published 699 times on WeChat ID, with a cumulative reading volume of 1.52 million times, and more than 5,000 readings. There are more than 70 items.

The "Wahaha Botox" has also been repeatedly concocted. On April 12, Hangzhou Wahaha Group stated that these rumors caused losses of up to 2 billion yuan for some Wahaha products in the first quarter of this year.

Faced with the rapidly spreading rumors, major food companies have chosen to sue and filed huge compensation claims. According to the court filing documents obtained by reporters from the Beijing News, Master Kong has currently sued Yingkou Feiyi Network Co., Ltd., Wuxi Wujidao Health Consulting Co., Ltd., and Dehui Yanuo Network Technology Co., Ltd., and the cases have been officially filed. At the same time, evidence of 17 public accounts spreading rumors was submitted to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, and three WeChat public accounts in Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jiangsu and other places were sued for spreading rumors, with compensation exceeding 50 million yuan.

“*** counted more than 800 WeChat public accounts suspected of spreading rumors, and focused on dozens of them to sue one by one, each with a claim amount of 1.5 million,” a source from Master Kong’s legal department told the Beijing News reporter , has launched a series of lawsuits in Northeast, South China and other regions, and has prosecuted nearly 40 rumor-mongering WeChat ID companies through criminal and civil prosecutions.

KFC also recently filed a lawsuit against 10 public accounts suspected of spreading rumors, seeking compensation of up to 1.5 million yuan from each defendant. According to preliminary statistics from Beijing News reporters, Nongfu Spring, Wahaha, and Master Kong have all made claims against the operating company behind the WeChat official account. Master Kong’s claim is 50 million yuan, Wahaha’s claim is 1 million yuan, KFC’s claim is 4.5 million yuan, and Nongfu’s claim is 4.5 million yuan. Shanquan claimed a claim amount of 200,000 yuan, and Wanglaoji claimed a claim of 6 million yuan. The total amount exceeded 61 million yuan. This may become the first online rumor claim case.

Most food companies say this is not enough to cover losses. KFC President Wat Cuirong believes that "the amount claimed is far from making up for the losses suffered. But if you do something wrong, you must pay a price." Master Kong also said that the rumors have seriously damaged Master Kong's business credibility and brand reputation. "The damage caused is incalculable." Estimated”.