Improper words on social media may cause problems

Posts on social media, which used to be considered personal, may now cause you some problems.

Posts on social media, which used to be considered personal, may now cause you some problems. [File photo: qq.com]

The Chengdu Business Daily is reporting a woman has been ordered to compensate and apologize to a friend for humiliating her on social media.

The woman, surnamed Zhao, has been ordered by a court in the city of Langzhong in Sichuan province to post apology and pay her friend, identified as Zhang, 5,000 yuan for sharing a dispute the two had.

After a verbal clash with Zhao in March, Zhang contacted Zhao through SMS, where the fight continued.

Zhao then put screen-shots of the dispute containing words humiliating Zhang as well as Zhang's photo on her WeChat account.

Claiming the airing of the dispute has affected her life, Zhang took the issue to court, filing suit.

The courts eventually sided with Zhang, even though Zhao didn't present a case, and refused to turn up in court.

The court decided that Zhao's behavior had violated Zhang's reputation. It has ordered that Zhao delete the post humiliating Zhang, and also issue an apology to Zhang on her WeChat account.

The presiding judge is also warning that if Zhao doesn't appeal, but refuses to post an apology, Zhang has the right to apply to the court for a compulsory execution of the decision. If that happens, the court can publish on local media a letter of apology to Zhang in Zhao's name, but the costs of the publishing will be paid by Zhao.

The judge said the case is a warning that people need to be cautious about their words on social media.

In other cases, several individuals have been detained for humiliating traffic police on social media after they were punished.

Worldwide, the United States approved a tougher visa policy in May which may require a vetting of visa applicants' social media posts for the last five years. Experts have warned that language deemed unacceptable to US Immigration may end up costing you a visa to the United States.