Self-proclaimed ‘free speech absolutist’ Elon Musk has won $23,000 in damages after suing a Chinese woman for defamation after she claimed the brakes on her father’s Tesla Model 3 failed.
Zhang Yazhou loudly began protesting following a 2021 incident in central China‘s Henan province which sent her parents to hospital for four days, according to medical records reviewed by the Associated Press.
She draped her damaged car with a banner that read ‘Tesla brake failure’ in front of the Tesla dealership in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, some 200 km (124 miles) from her home, before confronting executives at an auto show in Shanghai.
This stunt led to her being detained for five days after she was hauled out by burly security guards.
Tesla said her claimed her untrue, and successfully sued her for defamation during a closed trial that began in October 2021.
Tesla, whose owner famously said ‘free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy’ following his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, has been accused of using its considerable legal resources, as well as its cozy relationship with the Chinese state, of bullying unhappy Tesla customers who dare complain about issues with their cars.
Yazhou, who now has to pay the paltry sum to the $1.1trillion company and publicly apologise to it despite appealing the verdict, said: ‘I refuse to accept it. As a consumer, even if I said something wrong, I have the right to comment and criticize.
‘I spoke about my feelings as a user of the car. It has nothing to do with damaging their reputation.’
She said that after she complained to a local market regulator, Tesla refused to hand over data from right before the crash that may have shed light on the incident.
‘Tesla’s employees were very arrogant and tough in dealing with my complaints,’ Zhang said in an interview. ‘I was burning with anger.’
She was also the victim of a briefing war, with a top Tesla executive claiming to Chinese media that she ‘had someone behind her’ and simply wanted to extract money from Musk’s company.
Tesla claimed Zhang had deliberately spread false information that damaged the brand and asked for 5 million yuan ($684,000) in damages.
She is not the only one who has been aggressively pursued by Tesla.
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.
The company’s success is reportedly based on its relationship to one powerful official – Li Qiang, the former party boss of Shanghai who is now China’s premier, meaning he is second in rank only to President Xi Jinping.
Under Quang’s watch, Tesla built its first overseas factory in Shanghai. It was the first foreign carmaker to be given permission to retain complete control over its Chinese arm, and was given generous tax breaks and low-interest loans.
In exchange, China was able to leverage Tesla as a catalyst for domestic production and consumption.
‘The government gave Tesla a super status that put consumers in a very vulnerable position,’ said Qiao Yudong, a former lawyer for American sports car company Saleen Automotive in China. ‘That´s why some consumers had to resort to extreme actions.’
The results appear to speak for themselves.
An AP review of a Chinese government database of court filings published online found 81 civil judgements in which car owners sued Tesla over safety and quality issues or contract disputes. Car owners won in only nine of those cases.
In a statement to AP, the Shanghai High People’s Court said that judgments are the result of a ‘fair trial’ based on ‘the objective facts of the case’.
‘It cannot be assumed that the party has received ‘special protection’ or ‘special treatment’ because of their victory,’ the Court wrote.
But experts are skeptical that Tesla would be able to win so many cases.
‘For Tesla to win that percentage of the time is an anomaly,’ said Bill Russo, founder of Automobility Ltd., an advisory firm based in Shanghai, who also used to be regional head of Chrysler in northeast Asia.
He said of disgruntled consumers: ‘The odds are stacked against you. It´s like going to the casino and winning every hand.’
Chinese journalists also told the Associated Press that there was an unwritten rule to avoid critical coverage of Tesla. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.
‘We were told by our editor that we should not write negatively about Tesla because it is a key company that was introduced and protected by the Shanghai government,’ a tech reporter told AP.
And there are fears the same pattern of behaviour may soon be seen in the West.
While Tesla has not yet publicly sued any of its US customers for speaking out, Musk said on X last month that ‘maybe it is time’ to sue media outlets for coverage that could stain Tesla´s brand.
His post has been viewed more than 22 million times.
MailOnline has contacted Tesla for comment.
