A WOMAN has taken a news Web site owned by the Southern Metropolis Daily to court demanding an apology and compensation of 50,000 yuan (US$7,460) over a posting which she claimed had ruined her life.
The 900-character posting on the Web site forum in March claimed the woman, identified as Ma, an employee of a large transport company, had been given her job through an inappropriate relationship with her supervisor. The post received more than 20,000 hits in a few days after it appeared on the Web site, Chinese-language media reported.
In a complaint being heard in the Futian District People s Court, Ma said the post had ruined her life overnight both at home and at work.
Her husband had demanded a divorce and she risked being dismissed because executives at her company no longer trusted her.
Ma contacted the Web site and demanded the insulting piece be deleted to protect her reputation, but was refused. The Web site deleted her name but kept the post and her company s name although Ma reported it to the police.
In court Wednesday, an employee representing oeeee.com admitted they had deleted the piece only after receiving a court order.
The Web site said the writer should be held responsible because the Web site carried a disclaimer indicating the pieces in the forum were not verified although sensitive words were filtered out.
A false post can bring shame to a reputation and tear a happy family to pieces, Li Peihang, Ma s counsel, told the court. Li suggested the Web site be found liable because it had failed to monitor and delete the content as soon as it had been notified.
The court ordered the online monitoring authority to search the writer s IP.
The hearing is continuing.
(Han Ximin)
