Photo: Sina Weibo

Chinese boy group UNIQ member Li Wenhan has donated all of the compensation he won in a civil suit to a research fund to protect artists from cyberbullying, said media reports. The move comes as more Chinese celebrities are choosing to fight against malicious online personal attacks through lawsuits.

According to The Beijing News, the Beijing Entertainment Law Society (BELS) published a short notice on Monday saying it had received a donation of 70,000 yuan ($10,930) from Li that will be used to protect Chinese artists from cyber violence.

According to the Beijing Xingquan Law Firm, a Sina Weibo user surnamed Wang damaged Li's reputation by posting a series of humiliating and slanderous content in April 2019. In return, Li took Wang to court.

Li won the lawsuit against Wang in May 2020, with the court ordering the latter to pay 70,000 yuan in compensation and issue a written apology for defaming Li that had to be openly published on the internet for at least 90 days.  

This is not the first time that Chinese artists have donated the compensation they received from a court case to anti-cyberbullying funds. 

Chinese model and actress Angelababy once donated the 65,000 yuan she had won in a lawsuit to a similar fund in February, while Chinese singer Elva Hsiao also donated more than 40,000 yuan she hadreceived as a compensation to BELS after winning a lawsuit against an online author who spread rumors about her.

In 2019, an article titled Chinese Singer Actively Undergoing Treatment for AIDS appeared on Sina Weibo. The author claimed in the article that "a source has revealed that the reason for Elva Hsiao's disappearance from the public is that she is suffering from AIDS" and proceeded to carry out personal attacks against Hsiao by dressing down her lifestyle.

According to a research paper published by the Beijing Internet Court (BIC) in 2019, over 70 percent of the defendants in social media defamation lawsuits involving artists are young people under 30. 

The defamation phenomena is greatly tied to "fan culture," which is dominated by young people and has been gaining ground in China over the past few years. A staffer from BIC told the Xinhua News Agency that many young people today lack legal awareness and are much more easily influenced by public opinion on social media.

Online observers say that malicious online defamation toward artists should be curbed through lawsuits when necessary. 

"Celebrities don't sue their detractors for money obviously. However, if they keep tolerating attacks against them, more serious consequences may occur," said one observer on social media.

With the rise of the internet, cyberbullying has become a serious social issue and even the rich and famous are not immune as can be seen from the suicide of famous K-pop star Sulli's suicide in 2019.

Sulli, a former member of K-pop girl group f(x), found herself the target of cyberbullying for a long period of time. The star, who had been suffering from depression, committed suicide in October of 2019. As a South Korean idol, Sulli had been under attack for her outspokenness, especially her open remarks supporting women's dressing freedom by posting "no bra" photos on Instagram.

Global Times