WeChat user is charged US$38,000 after spreading fake news in Canada, putting scrutiny on a freewheeling political arena

A Toronto construction worker has lost a defamation lawsuit for using WeChat to spread what a judge called malicious falsehoods about a community leader. The ruling suggests Canada’s courts will punish people who use WeChat to spread lies, even if the number of readers is unknown, a tech lawyer says. — SCMP

A court ruling in Canada could put the brakes on WeChat’s freewheeling political discourse in the country, with a Toronto construction worker ordered to pay more than C$50,000 (US$37,599 or RM155,259) after spreading what a judge called malicious falsehoods about a local community leader on the Chinese social media platform.

The recent ruling showed that Canada’s courts would punish WeChat users for defamatory posts, even if their readership was unknown, said a business and technology lawyer who has previously warned that the platform had become “littered with users who hide behind their aliases and post rumours, false stories”.