Tesla Threatening Chinese Bloggers Posting Negative Content With Defamation Suits: FT

Tesla Inc. TSLA has threatened Chinese bloggers with defamation lawsuits for posting negative content about the electric vehicle maker, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

What Happened: Some bloggers claimed that an account recently set up by Tesla on the Chinese microblog Weibo for its legal department in China has privately warned them of lawsuits, as per the report.

At least two users of Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, reportedly said they were forced to publish letters apologizing for their videos on Tesla quality issues after receiving legal warnings from the company.

See Also: Tesla Begins Deliveries Of Model S Plaid: Everything You Need To Know

Why It Matters: Of late, Tesla has been facing rough weather in China, its second-largest market after the U.S., primarily due to military spy noise. The company is also facing intense regulatory scrutiny over the last several months following a slew of negative consumer and media reports on brake failures and collisions.

The Palo Alto-based EV maker has also halted plans to expand its Gigafactory in Shanghai and make it a global export hub due to the strained U.S.-China relations, it was reported in May.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed almost 1.9% higher in Thursday’s regular trading session at $610.12.

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