BYD intensifies strategy to prosecute influencers who criticize the brand

BYD has obtained a new wave of favorable decisions in the Chinese courts against automotive influencers who, according to the automaker, disseminated false information about the brand. The heaviest punishment fell on the channel “Tiger Wolf Talks Cars”, ordered to pay 210,000 yuan – about R$ 160 thousand – for damage to the company’s image and forced to publish a public apology.

In lower court decisions, the profiles “Zhengren Talks Cars” and “Solid-State Batteries Are Here” were sentenced to 100 thousand yuan each, equivalent to approximately R$ 76 thousand. Other accounts were also penalized: “987 Crazy Dad” must pay 85,000 yuan (about $65,000) for alleging quality defects in the products, and “Xiaoyu Doesn’t Understand Cars,” 55,000 yuan (about $42,000) for accusations of fraud in sales and finance. The profiles “Hippo War God” and “Zhang Bin Plays Off-Road” were ordered to publish retractions.

The offensive is part of what BYD describes as a zero-tolerance policy for content that it classifies as manipulated. The company claims to have confronted allegations about quality, battery performance and financial data with technical and operational records before going to court. To bolster the fight, it maintains a bounty program ranging from 50,000 to 5 million yuan for anyone who presents evidence of paid disinformation campaigns.

The convictions add to a recent history of judicialization. In June 2025, the brand’s legal department reported that it had sued 37 influencers for defamation and placed another 126 accounts under monitoring. In May 2026, the automaker won in the second instance the lawsuit against blogger “Long Ge Talks EVs”, ordered to pay 2 million yuan (about R$ 1.52 million) and to retract – one of the largest damages ever recorded in the country in cases of this type.