Nio founder and CEO William Li has urged tougher measures against organized online attacks that he says are damaging China’s automotive industry.
The chief of the Shanghai-headquartered EV maker spoke this week on state broadcaster CCTV Finance’s Economic Half-Hour program, which ran an investigation into so-called “black PR” campaigns.
The report described the practice as using technical tools to produce or spread rumors, flood comment sections on different social media platforms, and smear corporate reputations.
Citing a recent police case, Li said the cost of orchestrating such campaigns for carmakers is minimal compared with the huge investment required to develop cars.
“The Ministry of Public Security’s Cybersecurity Bureau previously cracked a black PR industrial group — 23 people were involved, with over 200 million yuan in funds,” he said.
“The investment cost is very low. Compared with this, isn’t making cars much harder?” he questioned. “R&D investment in automobiles is extremely large, and it involves the efforts of tens of thousands of engineers and tens of thousands of front-line colleagues.”
Li said some groups behind these efforts are brazen in their tactics.
“There are even some who are very arrogant, saying ‘Li Bin, the money you lost, come to me to get it,’ there are even such things,” he said.
“So I think right now, against this type of self-media that smears and fabricates rumors, that has a very large impact on corporate reputation, the crackdown is not strong enough.”
He added that industry associations should be directly involved in improving the environment for automakers.
“Industry associations should all get involved, to create a good public opinion environment for the development of enterprises,” Li said.
Executives from Changan, XPeng and Xiaomi Auto also appeared on the program, highlighting the industry-wide concern over the rise of “black water armies.”
The broadcast came amid a new enforcement campaign announced on September 10 by six Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China.
Authorities said they will target fake content for profit, exaggerated advertising claims, and smear campaigns aimed at rivals.
For Nio, the push comes as it escalates its own legal fight.
Earlier this week, the company said a court had ordered the operator of the account “2018护甲神龙” to delete thousands of defamatory posts, issue a public apology, and pay damages.
The ruling follows other lawsuits Nio filed in recent weeks, including against five additional accounts accused of spreading false information.
Since the start of the year, the company said it has pursued cases against “hundreds of infringing accounts” linked to millions of posts.
“Nio has always adhered to correct values and welcomes and accepts reasonable criticism and suggestions from the public, while continuing to take legal measures against any malicious infringement, black PR, and ‘water army’ activity,” the company said.
The automaker had also previouslyrejected claims that its mass-market sub-brand Onvo engaged in orchestrated online attacks against rivals.
Nio‘s US-listed shares rebounded on Thursday and Friday, erasing losses from earlier in the week after the company announced a $1 billion equity offering.
The Chinese EV maker said the funds will provide key support for its R&D, new models across its three brands, and expansion of its battery-swapping and charging network.
