Posting maggot-infested cake on Facebook, must pay 12 million VND in compensation
A person was ordered to pay 12 million VND in compensation for not reporting to the authorities but posting information about maggot-infested mooncakes on Facebook.
On the afternoon of February 6, the People's Court of Quang Nam province held an appeal hearing on the case of "Claim for compensation for damages outside the contract" between the plaintiff, Ms. Ngo Thi Bich Thuan, owner of Hoa Sen Cake Factory (Ha Lam town, Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province) and the defendant, Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Dao (born in 1975, residing in Ha Lam town).
According to the records, on September 15, 2016 (15th day of the 8th lunar month), Ms. Dao's daughter, Nguyen Thi Mai Ph. (born in 2006), was given a moon cake by her teacher, labeled Hoa Sen. On the morning of September 16, 2016, hearing some classmates say that there were maggots in the moon cake, Ph. and her classmates reported it to the homeroom teacher.
Court orders Facebook account owner to apologize and pay 12 million VND in compensation
That afternoon, when he came home from school, Ph. cut open the cake and saw some animals inside. After that, Ph. took out his phone to film and take pictures, then posted on Nguyen Xuan Dao's Facebook account (Mrs. Dao's) a clip and 7 pictures of the moon cake and an animal crawling on the cake, with the caption: "Hoa Sen moon cake has maggots crawling around, please be careful."
Believing that the information that Hoa Sen moon cakes had maggots was not true, causing the reputation of Hoa Sen Bakery to be affected and revenue to decline, on October 4, 2016, Ms. Thuan sent a complaint to the Thang Binh District Police.
On October 6, 2016, Thang Binh District Police concluded that Ph. had committed the act of "Transmitting and exchanging digital information to insult the honor and reputation of an organization", violating point g, clause 3, article 66 of Decree 174/2013/ND-CP (regulating administrative sanctions in the fields of post, telecommunications, information technology and radio frequencies). However, because Ph. was not old enough, he was not subject to administrative sanctions.
Image of "moon cake with maggots" posted on Facebook. Photo: HT
On October 12, 2016, Ms. Thuan sued Ms. Dao at the People's Court of Thang Binh district for taking advantage of her personal Facebook to "transmit and exchange digital information to insult the honor and reputation" of Hoa Sen Bakery.
At the first instance trial on September 8, 2017, the People's Court of Thang Binh District ordered the defendant, Ms. Dao, to apologize and make public corrections on Nguyen Xuan Dao's personal Facebook page and in the newspaper for affecting the reputation and production and business of Hoa Sen Bakery. Ms. Dao and her husband also had to compensate for economic and mental damages of more than 12 million VND.
Not accepting, Ms. Dao filed an appeal against the entire verdict, while Ms. Thuan appealed to increase the compensation amount.
At the trial on the afternoon of February 6, the panel of judges affirmed that there was no basis to determine whether the cake that Ms. Dao's daughter posted on Nguyen Xuan Dao's Facebook was produced by Hoa Sen Bakery or not. The testimony of Ph, Ms. Dao and the witnesses were not sufficient grounds to confirm that Hoa Sen cakes had maggots. The posting of information "Hoa Sen moon cakes have maggots" on Nguyen Xuan Dao's Facebook affected Hoa Sen Bakery, causing economic and mental damage to this establishment.
Therefore, the People's Court of Quang Nam province rejected the appeals of both the plaintiff and the defendant, upholding the first instance judgment.
