IT之家, October 16 report: "JD.com Spokesperson" released a statement tonight regarding the recent lawsuit involving an employee. IT之家 provides the original text below:
JD Group has become aware that recently, one of our employees expressed opinions on their personal social media regarding abnormal public discourse on a competitor’s platform during a major promotional event. The competitor has announced it will file multiple lawsuits against the employee. JD Group firmly safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of its employees; our legal team will support the employee in filing a counterclaim and will report the matter to relevant authorities.
Here, we solemnly declare:
JD.com firmly safeguards consumers' legitimate rights and right to be informed, and strongly opposes certain platforms manipulating public opinion.
We believe that facts and the law will lead to a fair judgment.
JD.com Group, October 16, 2026
According to previous reports, the central figure in this incident is Zuo Qi, a procurement and sales manager at JD.com.
According to Guancha.cn on October 16, shortly before this year’s 618 promotional event, Zuo Qi posted on his social media circle that “many merchants and media outlets received public demands from a giant traffic platform to criticize JD.com, with the promise of receiving traffic support from the platform if they did so,” accompanied by a screenshot featuring a Jinri Toutiao link. The related content was subsequently widely shared by numerous self-media accounts.
Douyin E-commerce confirmed to Time Finance that the case has been accepted by the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing as a defamation dispute, noting that after the statements spread, the platform suffered organized bot attacks, with the content exhibiting characteristics such as concentrated posting times, severe text homogenization, and clustered IP addresses.
In response to JD.com's statement, Douyin E-commerce issued a clarification on the afternoon of October 16 via its official account "Douyin Blackboard." Douyin stated that after Zuo Qi was sued, he again spread rumors on his Moments; legal evidence of his latest false claims has been secured, and legal action will be pursued accordingly.
Douyin E-commerce stated that the article referenced by Zuo Qi was an original report by reputable media outlets based on a dispute between a merchant and JD.com during the 618 shopping festival, and was covered by multiple media sources; claims that there were “no comments” or that the topic was “artificially pushed to the trending list” are untrue. Verification shows that when the topic entered the trending list, multiple media outlets were already participating in the discussion, with over 100 actual comments under the featured news article, and metrics such as article open rates and engagement levels all aligned with characteristics of high-quality content, indicating organic trending.
Zuo Qi responded via Moments on October 16, stating that every year during major promotional events like 618 and Double Eleven, merchants and media receive "leak reports" targeting JD.com. He questioned how an article with only about 1,000 views and no comments on Toutiao could make it onto the platform’s trending list, suggesting the ranking was artificially manipulated.
JD Group stated tonight that it will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its employees; the Legal Department will support employees in filing counterclaims and report the matter to relevant authorities. The statement also emphasized that JD Group is committed to protecting consumers’ legitimate rights and right to be informed, firmly opposes certain platforms manipulating public opinion, and believes that facts and the law will deliver a fair judgment.