BYD has won a significant legal victory against a Chinese EV blogger, with a court upholding a ruling ordering the creator known as “Long Ge Talks EVs” to pay roughly $293,000 in compensation and issue a public apology. The blogger released an apology video this week, admitting that his earlier content discussing repairs to BYD battery, motor, and electric-control systems lacked verified technical evidence and damaged the company’s reputation. The ruling ordered the blogger to stop the infringement, eliminate its impact, and compensate BYD in full.
BYD’s Bigger War on Misinformation
In June 2025, BYD’s legal department went public with a sweeping offensive, announcing it had sued 37 social media influencers for defamation and placed another 126 accounts under internal monitoring. The company even offered whistleblower rewards ranging from $7,000 to a staggering $700,000 for credible leads. BYD described the situation as a series of “repeated, organized, and malicious online attacks” orchestrated by unnamed media outlets and PR firms. Li Yunfei, BYD’s head of branding and public relations, was direct about the company’s position, saying criticism and oversight were welcome, but fabricated content was not. The content BYD took issue with ranged from false claims about its financial stability to allegations of rigged influencer campaigns and bogus vehicle safety concerns. Courts had already started ruling in BYD’s favor before the Long Ge case even concluded.
Long Lei/Xinhua via Getty Images
When It Went Global
The controversy wasn’t limited to Chinese social media. British automotive YouTuber James Martin, AKA JayEmm on Cars, made a video titled “QUICK! WATCH THIS BEFORE THEIR LAWYERS!” covering BYD’s extraordinary business practices and its legal campaign against creators. The title alone tells you the mood among automotive commentators at the time. It became part of a wider conversation about how aggressively Chinese automakers were willing to police their image online, and whether that aggression crossed a line from legitimate brand protection into something more chilling. It reframed BYD from a fast-rising EV disruptor to a company willing to weaponize its legal resources, on the level one has come to expect from a legacy manufacturer like Ferrari. This latest ruling is, by any measure, a statement. Close to $300,000 and a forced apology are far from a mere slap on the wrist.
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