Gu Chen continued, "Chen Yang only spoke about his experiences. Did he engage in online harassment? The hundreds of thousands of comments in the comment section are those people harassing Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian. What does that have to do with Chen Yang?"
"I want to ask the opposing lawyer, is sharing the facts of one’s own experiences on social media considered online harassment?"
This question from Gu Chen once again silenced the room.
Wang Haixiang spoke, "But the impact on Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian caused by Chen Yang is a fact. Both suffered significant mental issues because of this video, which is undeniable, right? So regardless, Chen Yang should be held responsible. If Chen Yang hadn’t posted the video, Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian wouldn’t have been affected."
Gu Chen continued, "The opposing lawyer is merely distorting the concept. If the opposing lawyer happens to watch an unhappy video today on social media and becomes depressed, should they blame the video’s author? If a student’s grades are poor, should they blame video games, television, or entertainment activities?"
"Does it mean that if someone watches a Douyin video and develops health issues, they should blame the creators on Douyin? Furthermore, everything Chen Yang discussed was the actual experiences he encountered."
"The real harassers are some of the netizens. If Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian were harassed, you should be looking for the netizens, not targeting Chen Yang, or is the opposing lawyer suggesting blaming the platform Douyin? If Douyin didn’t exist, they wouldn’t have seen the video, so should you also sue ByteDance?"
As Gu Chen’s words fell, the livestream audience began discussing in earnest.
[Whoa! Gu Chen!! You’re telling me this is an intern lawyer?]
[Gu Chen really has something to offer, Gu Chen’s amazing!]
[Sounds reasonable! It’s those two women who have a problem. What’s Cheng Yang’s issue?]
[Yeah, being affected by watching a video—what does that have to do with Cheng Yang? If someone falls on the street, should they blame uneven pavement?]
[Let those two women apologize + compensate, why should Cheng Yang pay? Is protecting one’s rights now considered wrong?]
Judge Li Kang knocked the gavel, "Order!"
Li Kang looked at Gu Chen and said, "The plaintiff’s lawyer claims to have new evidence. What is the evidence?"
At this point, Gu Chen presented the evidence, "The video Chen Yang posted was merely a video asserting his rights and did not involve harassing others. Instead, Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian have been harassing Chen Yang continuously."
"The evidence is all here."
"Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian used QQ aliases, forum aliases, in Chen Yang’s university group, confession wall, and other places to spread rumors saying Chen Yang was secretly filming, calling him a sleazy guy who filmed under women’s skirts."
"Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian also used their aliases on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Weibo to spread various rumors about Chen Yang, claiming he was secretly filming others and got caught by them, and they attached Chen Yang’s photo."
"Here is the evidence of Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian using various social media platforms and aliases to rumor-monger, commit personal attacks, slander, and smear Chen Yang, causing significant mental harm and distress to him, even leading to the university issuing a suspension notice for investigation."
Gu Chen handed the evidence over piece by piece.
They were all displayed on the screen... All were posts from Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian.
Gu Chen said, "All of this has been verified and authenticated by the technical department. Regardless of the number of aliases, all IP addresses originate from Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian, so the ones harassing, concocting rumors, and slandering are not Chen Yang, but Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian."
The livestream exploded again!
This time, viewers saw what messages the two women had posted.
Pretty much everything that could be criticized was, and all were posts from the two women.
Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian even caused many university classmates to have biased views against Chen Yang due to their rumor-spreading.
To this day, Chen Yang is unable to return to school for normal studies.
[Huh? Huh???]
[No way, are Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian really this disgusting?]
[It was posting essays, wasn’t it? Fine, fine, fine.]
[Ah, the classic essay posting, turns out these two women were like this behind the scenes.]
[So Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian were this kind of people, frantically smearing Chen Yang, indulging in rumor-mongering.]
[Chen Yang is truly miserable!!!]
[These two women must apologize! Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian must compensate for mental damages.]
[I’m watching this and feel like giving a deliberate punch—just so disgusting!]
[Chen Yang is so pitiful, being kicked and insulted, and now even suspended from university, the danger of rumor-mongering is evident, despite Chen Yang never secretly filming, Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian contrived essays to smear him for revenge.]
Meanwhile, the court was verifying if the evidence was genuine.
Soon, the court’s technical department delivered the message.
Judge Li Kang knocked the gavel, "The evidence is legitimate!"
After Li Kang finished speaking.
Gu Chen directly said, "Judge, I request a modification of the lawsuit request! Initially, all we wanted were apologies from the two individuals, but the attitude of the two women has been extremely malicious! Thus, after communicating with Chen Yang, we decided to pursue criminal liability for Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian!"
"Zhou Lingling, Wang Tiantian, deliberately fabricated rumors, slandered, and smeared Chen Yang, causing severe consequences and substantial mental harm to Chen Yang! Seriously infringing Chen Yang’s reputation and privacy rights, with their rumor-mongering articles garnering over five million hits on the internet, extremely malicious! As per Article 138 of the Criminal Law, we demand Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian be sentenced to seven years of imprisonment! Immediate implementation!!!"
"Our client Chen Yang refuses apology, refuses compensation for mental damages, refuses medical expenses compensation, insists on sentencing! Insists on pursuing legal penalties against the criminals!"
"Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian both committed malicious defamation!! If the law does not punish these individuals today, tomorrow there will be more rumor-mongers appearing!!"
"If the cost of rumor-mongering is too low and the cost of protecting rights is too high, in this society, anyone can defame! Anyone can slander others!!!"
"This case is precisely the epitome of the current societal issues!"
"Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian, knowing the law but committing crimes, maliciously retaliating, fabricating rumors and slanders without basis!"
"If Zhou Lingling and Wang Tiantian are not severely punished today, where lies the justice and dignity of the law!!"
"If anyone can fabricate rumors and slander and not bear legal responsibility, what’s the purpose of this law!!!"
"Fabricating rumors should not be without cost! Criminals must be made to pay a price!"
"Demanding sentencing! Must sentence!!!"