KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 ― Singaporean singer JJ Lin has sued an internet user for defamation.
Chinese firm Shanghai Jiuze Law Firm, who is representing the 40-year-old and his agency JFJ Productions, filed the suit against a person named Xie Minghao, The Straits Times reported.
In a statement posted by the firm on Weibo, Xie was “suspected of infringing on the reputation and rights” of Lin by posting false statements about him.
However, Lin's case against Xie is on hold for now as he is facing other legal proceedings.
It is unclear what other cases that Xie is entangled with.
The statement ended by warning social media users that “cyberspace is not an extrajudicial place” and reminded them that they could not speak with impunity.
While the statement did not specify the allegations, Xie had in August made a Weibo post saying that “bad actors JJ Lin and Wilber Pan have taken drugs, lured others to take drugs, evaded taxes, and raped women”.
That same month, Shanghai Jiuze Law Firm had called out 28 different online accounts ― including Xie's ― that had “maliciously published/spread false statements against Mr JJ Lin”.
This is the second suit Lin has filed against social media users.
In September, Lin sued a Chinese internet celebrity who repeatedly spoofed him by transplanting his face onto offending videos and the company behind the video platform.
The celebrity ― Xiao Yang ― “face swapped” Lin's face in six instances in parody videos mainly meant to ridicule him.
