Cai Lei wins the first instance lawsuit against the defamation account; compensation will be fully donated to impoverished patients with progressive paralysis.

On April 2nd, Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm issued a statement that the firm’s lawyer represented ALS advocate and former JD.com Vice President Cai Lei in a network infringement liability dispute against Xu Mou and Chen Mou. After a lawful public trial by the Beijing Internet Court, a first-instance judgment was made, ruling in favor of Cai Lei.

The statement pointed out that, according to court findings, defendants Xu and Chen operated online accounts “Junqiao Huamao HrS” and “2024 Return to Han and Tang,” and since 2024, in order to attract attention and garner traffic, the defendants repeatedly fabricated and spread rumors such as “Cai Lei faking illness,” “Cai Lei soliciting donations fraudulently,” and “Cai Lei falsely advertising titles,” which were seriously inconsistent with facts. They maliciously defamed Cai Lei’s health condition, charitable donation activities, and professional background, causing widespread dissemination of these falsehoods, severely infringing on Cai Lei’s right to reputation, and negatively impacting his public welfare work in ALS research.

The court found that the statements made by the two defendants lacked factual basis, with clear malicious intent to defame the plaintiff. Their actions constituted an infringement of the right to reputation. They were ordered to immediately cease the infringement, delete all infringing statements published on the involved accounts, and publicly issue an apology statement verified by the court on the involved Toutiao account, as well as pay damages for mental distress and reasonable expenses for safeguarding rights.

Cai Lei then posted on his personal social media account that over the past year, online rumors targeting himself, his family, and his team had never stopped. “Although I am racing against time every day, I have no choice but to use legal weapons to defend my dignity and the facts,” he said. He emphasized that the amount of compensation was not the goal; what mattered was a fair court ruling and a public apology. All compensation received would be donated to patients in need.

Cai Lei previously served as Vice President of JD.com. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2019, with his condition now in the mid-to-late stage. Since then, he has dedicated all his energy to fighting ALS. He founded the “ALS Cure Charity Trust,” built the world’s largest ALS patient data platform and pathology sample bank, and promoted the implementation of multiple cutting-edge research pipelines. In 2024, Cai Lei publicly announced that he and his wife would donate another 100 million yuan to support ALS research, funded by his autobiography royalties and livestream income from “Icebreaker Station.”

On November 26th last year, Cai Lei posted that “today I was informed that ‘Cai Lei claims he only has 3 to 5 years left to live’ was trending on hot search lists, which is distorted and misleading. My original statement was: the average survival period for ALS patients is only 3 to 5 years. This is a common clinical statistic for the disease, not a personal prognosis.”

On March 30th, according to Caixin.com Technology, Cai Lei recently revealed his latest physical condition, stating that even with the support of four people, he can no longer walk or move. His six-year fight has been like a long dream, making him forget the changing seasons, leaving only deep memories of human coldness and warmth in his heart.