Hong Kong, November 30: Tesla has won a lawsuit against a Chinese news outlet that published a false article in 2020 in which it called Giga Shanghai "a modern-day sweatshop", the media reported.

The perpetrator was ordered by the court to remove the article, publicly admit their guilt, and pay monetary retribution, reports Tesmanian. Tesla faced a major smear campaign in China at the end of 2020. Tesla Car Crash in China: Automaker Claims Driver of Crashed Model Y Failed To Step on Brakes Throughout the Incident, Probe Underway.

PingWest, a Chinese news outlet, published a lengthy article falsely describing tyrannical management at the Shanghai Gigafactory and inhumane working conditions, according to the report. In the article, the author claimed that the factory produces defective cars, putting customers' lives at risk. Tesla Car Crash Video: Model Y Takes Off at High Speed While Trying To Park in China, Swerves and Crashes After Killing Two People; CCTV Footages Go Viral.

It was reported by the journalist that employees at what was described as a "modern-day sweatshop" were constantly processed without additional pay, and that their meals consisted of instant noodles and expired bread, said the report.

The article caused serious damage to the manufacturer's reputation at the time. Later, Tesla filed a lawsuit to legally refute the claims in the article in response to the claims of defamation and reputational damage.

However, immediately after the publication of that article, the Tesla China team reacted by refuting all the allegations in it. From the beginning, Tesla's development in China was filled with a lot of false information from the media.

Initially, it came from American journalists, but Chinese journalists and some owners started spreading false information after Giga Shanghai opened, the report added. This led Tesla to create a legal department in China that fought defamation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2022 07:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).