Tencent sues Jinri Toutiao and Douyin for unfair competition

Mobile video apps including Kuaishou, Douyin, Xigua and Huoshan are displayed on the screen of a 4G smartphone. [File photo: IC]

China's Internet giant Tencent announced on Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against the operators of Jinri Toutiao and Douyin at the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing for unfair competition. Tencent also said that it has suspended cooperation with the two companies.

Jinri Toutiao is an AI-powered news and information aggregation and sharing platform. Douyin is a popular short video sharing platform. 

Tencent accuses the operators of Jinri Toutiao and Douyin of defaming by publishing a large number of negative comments, articles, and videos about the company through their platforms.

In the lawsuit, Tencent demands that the two companies cease engaging in unfair competition, apologize openly on social media, and pay 1 yuan (around 0.15 U.S. dollars) in compensation.

In response, the owner of Jinri Toutiao, Beijing Bytedance Technology Co. Ltd., filed a counter-suit against Tencent for unfair competition, according to a report from the Beijing News. The Beijing News report says the rapid development of Jinri Toutiao and Douyin has led to fierce marketplace competition between the companies, especially when it comes to short video sharing services.