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Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes don’t work! Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into an SUV and a sedan and crashing into a large concrete barrier.

Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the car’s brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than $23,000 in damages and publicly apologize to the $1.1 trillion company.

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Over the last four years, Tesla has sued at least six car owners in China who had sudden vehicle malfunctions, quality complaints or accidents they claimed were caused by mechanical failures.

The company has also sued at least six bloggers and two Chinese media outlets that wrote critically about the company, according to a review of public court documents and Chinese media reports by The Associated Press. Tesla won all eleven cases for which AP could determine the verdicts. Two judgments, including Zhang’s, are on appeal. One case was settled out of court.

It is not common practice for automakers — in China or elsewhere — to sue their customers. But Tesla has pioneered an aggressive legal strategy and leveraged the patronage of powerful leaders in China’s ruling Communist Party to silence critics, reap financial rewards and limit its accountability.

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  • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org
    3·
    6 hours ago

    Tim Karr, a senior director at Free Press, a U.S.-based organization that advocates for more just and democratic media, wrote in August 2023:

    Working With China to Censor Critics

    As Musk began rolling out sales of Tesla in China in 2021, he and company colleagues became unnerved by a number of consumers who had taken to Chinese social media to complain about issues with the company’s malfunctioning electric cars. Rather than fix the problems, Tesla called on the Chinese government to use its censorship powers to block its critics online.

    By the end of the year, the company filed defamation claims against at least two Chinese citizens who raised concerns about the safety and quality of its vehicles …

    Addition:

    Here’s a look at free speech absolutist Elon Musk’s ties to Chinese censorship – (2022)

    Consumers began to stage increasingly visible anti-Tesla protests [over reported vehicle malfunctions, such as brake failures, unexpected acceleration, and battery fires], leading Tesla to undertake an effort to better control public perception of the brand. The plan it devised reportedly involved the company “complain[ing] to the government over what it sees as unwarranted attacks on social media,” according to insiders who spoke to Businessweek at the time, then “ask[ing] Beijing to use its censorship powers to block some of the posts.”