Chinese tech giant Baidu has filed a lawsuit against two Chinese tech companies Tencent and Sohu, charging them with destroying its reputation. Baidu clams that Tencent and Sohu posted articles online that have seriously damaged the image of the company's takeout service, Baidu Waimai.

According to China.org, Baidu Waimai said that some public accounts of Tencent's social networking platform WeChat posted discriminatory stories about employees of Baidu-owned restaurants claiming that they were using toilet water to wash food. Baidu Waimai added that stories posted on Sohu's platform claimed that it is serving expired foods.

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Baidu Waimai claims that the stories circulating on Tencent and Sohu's platforms are completely false and were fabricated to paint a negative picture of the company. As a result, Baidu is demanding that Tencent and Sohu shut down public accounts that are circulating these discriminatory stories. Baidu is also demanding that the two tech companies provide information about the account holders spreading the untrue stories.

Beijing's Haidian district court stated that "The plaintiff believes that the article's content was seriously inaccurate. It caused serious adverse effects on the plaintiff's reputation."

Aside from taking down the malicious posts and providing the information of social media accounts linked to the posts, Baidu is also seeking compensation and court fees amounting to more than $75,000. According to Bloomberg, Baidu is also asking Tencent and Sohu to issue a statement of apology which is to be printed in national newspapers.

TagsBaidu, Tencent, Sohu, Baidu lawsuit, Tencent news, Baidu Waimai