Vlogger fakes "haunted-house" exploration video, ordered to apologize
A vlogger with 2.5 million followers has drawn criticism after posting a video of an unoccupied house, claiming that it was a haunted house where two young people had died.
In June, Lu, the vlogger, uploaded the exploration video of the house in Zhenyuan Town, southwest China's Guizhou Province, which he claimed was haunted, with spooky music and a filter.
The video received over 719,000 likes and 2.8 million views in just ten days on social media platforms.
A screenshot of the house from Lu's video.
However, the house's owner, Zhou, recognized the property from the video and identified herself to the vlogger.
She explained that the house belonged to her parents, who had died in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
The house had stayed unoccupied since. Zhou felt insulted by the vlogger's video and asked Lu to delete the video, which he declined and blocked her.
Zhou and her brother sued Lu at a local court for the hurtful comments and the online attention the video had caused.
On August 16, the court ruled that Lu should apologize to Zhou and her brother for the damage caused and pay 3,000 yuan (US$411) as mental damage compensation.
