4月8日，美国一名法官驳回了针对中国搜索引擎巨头百度的一项诉讼，该诉讼指控百度在遵守中国互联网内容管理规定的能力方面欺骗了股东。
美国加州圣何塞地区法官Lucy Koh在周三晚间作出的此项裁决中，驳回了诉讼的相关主张。诉讼认为百度在2019年3月-2020年3月期间发布的12份声明有误且具误导性，并推高了公司股价。
这些声明内容包括，宣布公司已经“清理”了涉及黄赌毒等有害或有问题的内容。这增强了使用者信心，并可能提升了百度的访问量和收入。
Koh还认定，没有证据证明百度故意欺诈。此前原告Roger Ikeda称，百度高管隐瞒了公司在合规方面的缺陷，以躲避中国政府的处罚。
庭审资料显示，此次原告的代理律所为总部位于纽约的Pomerantz律师事务所及Kahn Swick Foti律师事务所。两家律所都是美国代理股东发起集体讼诉的名所，其中Pomerantz近年多次出现在针对中概股公司——包括聚美优品、新东方、拼多多、阿里巴巴等——的集体诉讼中。
百度的代理律师则为世达国际律师事务所洛杉矶办公室诉讼领域合伙人Virginia Milstead，资料显示她在代理中概股公司应对集体诉讼方面也经验丰富，曾成功代表宜人贷、蓝汛通信驳回相关诉讼。
Baidu defeats U.S. shareholder lawsuit over China internet law compliance
A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Baidu Inc of defrauding shareholders about its ability to comply with Chinese regulations governing internet content.
In a Wednesday (April 8) night decision, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected claims in the proposed class action that 12 statements that Baidu made from March 2019 to March 2020 were false and misleading and inflated the Beijing-based company’s share price.
The statements included that the world’s largest search engine other than Alphabet Inc’s Google had “cleaned up” harmful or questionable content such as material related to drugs, gambling and pornography, giving users more confidence and potentially boosting online traffic and revenue.
Koh, based in San Jose, California, also found no proof of an intent to defraud, after the plaintiff Roger Ikeda argued that senior Baidu executives concealed compliance shortfalls to avoid fines and suspensions from the Chinese government.
Lawyers for Ikeda did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday, nor did Baidu’s lawyers.
The lawsuit was filed last April, shortly after China’s internet regulator Cyberspace Administration of China ordered Baidu to halt the spread of “low-brow content,” prompting Baidu to suspend some channels on its mobile app.
Baidu resumed updating the channels two weeks later.
The proposed shareholder class included holders of Baidu’s American depositary shares from March 16, 2019 to April 7, 2020. Koh dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs can amend their complaint.
The case is Ikeda v Baidu Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-02768.
The case document shows that the plaintiff is represented by New York-headquartered law firms Pomerantz and Kahn Swick Foti, both are famous for representing shareholders in such class action lawsuits. Pomerantz, which claims to be the oldest law firm in this arena, has been a regular face in recent class action lawsuits against China concepts stock, including Jumei International Holding, Pinduoduo and Alibaba.
Meanwhile Baidu is represented by Skadden’s dispute partner Virginia Milstead based in Los Angeles. Skadden’s website shows her as a veteran in this area, too, having secured dismissals for online micro-loan provider Yirendai Ltd. and China’s largest content delivery network ChinaCache International Holdings of federal securities class action claims.
To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.