Takedowns, impersonation and online abuse: official routes in China, the US and Canada
MVP (Mega Volume Production, 十方众声) has set out the official routes open to a public figure facing infringement, impersonation or online abuse. The usual order is to preserve the evidence, report to the platform, go to China’s national reporting channels if the platform does not act, and, where needed, send a lawyer’s letter or go to court. This page describes published rules and is not legal advice.
This page sets out published rules as background to the industry. It is not legal advice. Each entry gives the date it was checked.
What official routes are there for infringement, impersonation and online abuse, and in what order?
The usual order is to preserve the evidence, report to the platform, go to China’s national reporting channels if the platform does not act, and, where needed, issue a statement or a lawyer’s letter and go to court. Each channel shows its jurisdiction and type (official, platform, court or vendor); where there is a time limit, it says whether the law or the platform sets it, and what it counts.
Preserve the evidence
Blockchain storage proves only that data has not changed since it was stored. Under Article 16 of China’s Online Litigation Rules of the People’s Courts, a court may accept that blockchain-stored data that passes technical verification has not been altered since it was stored; Article 18 lets a party challenge whether the data was genuine before it was stored.1 So the usual practice is to preserve evidence the moment the content appears, not just before a claim is filed.
Preserve the evidence Channel Jurisdiction Type Time limit Note Evidence capture built into platforms CN Platform Article 25 of China’s Provisions on the Governance of Online Violence Information requires platforms to give users quick evidence capture for online abuse, among other functions.2
Tianping Chain (Beijing Internet Court) CN Court A judicial blockchain set up by the Beijing Internet Court together with other judicial bodies and organizations; it went live on September 9, 2018.3
Hangzhou Internet Court judicial blockchain CN Court The judicial blockchain run by the Hangzhou Internet Court.4
Notarized preservation of evidence CN Official China’s Notarization Law lists the preservation of evidence among the matters a notary office handles (Article 11); notarized facts and documents are taken as the basis for finding facts unless there is enough evidence to the contrary to overturn them (Article 36).5
Zhixin Chain (至信链) CN Vendor’s own claim An evidence-storage service platform.6
Quanli Weishi (权利卫士), trusted timestamps CN Vendor’s own claim Photo, video, audio, web-page and screen-recording capture, fixed in time by a trusted timestamp.7
eGongzheng (公证云) CN Vendor’s own claim An online notarization platform: online applications for notarization, plus an intellectual property protection platform and an electronic data custody platform.8
Report to the platform
Once the evidence is preserved, the usual next step is a report to the platform where the content appears. Chinese platforms set their own scope, documents and handling times, while a quick complaint channel for online abuse is something the regulations require of them.2 In the US and Canada, copyright notices follow statutory procedures, and the two procedures differ.
Report to the platform Channel Jurisdiction Type Time limit Note Douyin infringement reports CN Platform Accepts infringement reports for seven types of right (reputation, likeness, voice, privacy, copyright, trademark and patent), also by email to qinquan@bytedance.com. The other party may file a statement of non-infringement, and withdrawing a report ends the measures taken on it.9
Weibo personal-rights complaints CN Platform 5 business daysPlatform’s own · to handle a complaint Covers name, reputation, honor, likeness, privacy and other personal rights; repeated complaints are not accepted.10
Weibo complaints zone for companies CN Platform Weibo’s separate entry point for infringement complaints involving companies.11
Anti-abuse settings and complaint entry points CN Platform China’s Provisions on the Governance of Online Violence Information require platforms to offer protection options such as blocking strangers and limiting who can see posts (Article 23), and a prominent quick complaint entry point (Article 26).2
DMCA copyright notice US Official 10–14 business daysStatutory · to restore content after a counter-notice, unless the sender has sued TAKE IT DOWN Act removal request US Official 48 hoursStatutory · to remove content after a valid request Applies only to non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated ones, not to AI copies of a face or voice in general; the FTC has enforced it since May 19, 2026.14
YouTube impersonation report US Platform Copying a profile picture or banner, imitating a name with misspellings or special fonts, or using an AI-generated likeness or voice to imply endorsement all count as impersonation.15
YouTube Content ID US Platform Available only to copyright owners who can show exclusive rights to the material and a need for the tool.16
YouTube Copyright Match Tool US Platform Finds only full or nearly full re-uploads, and only those uploaded after the owner’s own video, so publishing first matters in itself.17
Meta Rights Manager US Platform Meta’s tool against copyright infringement on Facebook and Instagram; anyone with a Facebook Page can apply for access at this address.18
TikTok intellectual property reports US Platform Separate report forms for copyright and trademark, and a policy of banning repeat infringers.19
Google Results about you US Platform Canadian copyright notice (notice-and-notice) CA Official 6 months; 1 year if proceedings beginStatutory · the intermediary keeps records identifying the other party Report to the national channels
If a platform does not act, the matter can go to China’s national reporting and rumor-rebuttal channels. The channels listed at this stage are mainland China’s.
Report to the national channels Channel Jurisdiction Type Time limit Note CAC Reporting Center for Illegal and Harmful Information (12377) CN Official Takes reports through six routes: its website, its app, Weibo direct messages, its WeChat official account, a hotline and email.24
China Internet Joint Rumor-Refuting Platform CN Official Run by the CAC reporting center, with a reporting entry point and a zone for rumor-rebuttal labels.25
Statements and lawyer’s letters
The usual practice is for a lawyer to review the wording before a statement is issued in the name of the person or their company, or for a lawyer to send a lawyer’s letter.
Police reports and criminal charges
Under guiding opinions issued in 2023 by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security, creating or spreading rumors online that demean a person and damage their reputation is punished as defamation when it is serious enough to meet Article 246 of China’s Criminal Law; insult and defamation that seriously harm social order and national interests are prosecuted by the state; and where a victim brings a private prosecution and has real difficulty supplying evidence, the court may ask the police to help.26
Go to court
Since November 1, 2025, under Fa Shi [2025] No. 14, traditional online torts such as online defamation and infringements of general personality or property rights are no longer heard centrally by the internet courts; they go to the relevant basic-level courts under territorial jurisdiction.27,28 For research into similar cases before filing, there is the People’s Court Case Database.29
Go to court Channel Jurisdiction Type Time limit Note Internet courts (Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou) CN Court Still hear nine types of case centrally, including online personal information and privacy disputes.27
People’s Court Case Database CN Court The Supreme People’s Court’s case database; it holds guiding cases and reference cases, searchable by title, full text and cause of action, among other fields.29
Personality-rights injunction CN Court Under Article 997 of the Civil Code, a person with evidence that someone is committing or about to commit an unlawful act against their personality rights, which would cause irreparable harm if not stopped in time, may apply to a people’s court for an order to stop it.30
Notes
- 《人民法院在线诉讼规则》 (Online Litigation Rules of the People’s Courts)
- 《网络暴力信息治理规定》 (Provisions on the Governance of Online Violence Information)
- 天平链 (Tianping Chain)
- 杭州互联网法院司法区块链 (Hangzhou Internet Court judicial blockchain)
- 《中华人民共和国公证法》 (Notarization Law of the People’s Republic of China)
- 至信链 (Zhixin Chain)
- 权利卫士 (Quanli Weishi)
- 公证云 (eGongzheng)
- 「抖音」侵权举报指引 (Douyin infringement reporting guide)
- 《人身权益纠纷处理流程》 (Weibo: handling of personal-rights disputes)
- 《涉企侵权投诉专区》 (Weibo: complaints zone for infringement involving companies)
- Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17), Chapter 5: Copyright Infringement and Remedies
- DMCA Designated Agent Directory
- Take It Down Act enforcement starts now: What to know about the FTC and TIDA
- Impersonation policy
- Qualify for Content ID
- Learn about the Copyright Match Tool
- Helping Creators and Publishers Manage Intellectual Property with Rights Manager
- Intellectual Property Policy
- Find and remove personal info in Google Search results
- Remove my private info from Google Search
- Copyright Act, section 41.25: Notice of claimed infringement
- Copyright Act, section 41.26: Obligations related to notice
- 举报指南 (Reporting guide)
- 中国互联网联合辟谣平台 (China Internet Joint Rumor-Refuting Platform)
- 《最高人民法院 最高人民检察院 公安部关于依法惩治网络暴力违法犯罪的指导意见》 (Guiding Opinions of the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on Punishing Online Violence in Accordance with Law)
- 《最高人民法院关于互联网法院案件管辖的规定》 (Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Jurisdiction of Internet Courts)
- 《最高人民法院研究室负责人就互联网法院案件管辖司法解释答记者问》 (The head of the Supreme People’s Court Research Office answers questions on the judicial interpretation on internet courts’ jurisdiction)
- 人民法院案例库 (People’s Court Case Database)
- 《中华人民共和国民法典》 (Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China)
Frequently asked questions
How do copyright complaints differ between the US and Canada?
The US uses notice-and-takedown: a platform removes content after a notice containing the statutory elements, and if the other party files a counter-notice, restores it within 10 to 14 business days unless the sender has sued.31 Canada uses notice-and-notice: the intermediary forwards the notice to the other party and keeps records, and the provisions set no duty to remove the content.32,33
Can an online defamation case in China still go to an internet court?
Since November 1, 2025, such cases are no longer heard centrally by the internet courts. Under Fa Shi [2025] No. 14, online defamation and other traditional online torts, including infringements of general personality or property rights, go to the relevant basic-level courts under territorial jurisdiction; the internet courts now hear online personal information and privacy, online data and online virtual property disputes, among others.34,35
Notes
- Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17), Chapter 5: Copyright Infringement and Remedies
- Copyright Act, section 41.25: Notice of claimed infringement
- Copyright Act, section 41.26: Obligations related to notice
- 《最高人民法院关于互联网法院案件管辖的规定》 (Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Jurisdiction of Internet Courts)
- 《最高人民法院研究室负责人就互联网法院案件管辖司法解释答记者问》 (The head of the Supreme People’s Court Research Office answers questions on the judicial interpretation on internet courts’ jurisdiction)
- 《涉企侵权投诉专区》 (Weibo: complaints zone for infringement involving companies)
- 举报指南 (Reporting guide)
A sudden incident can be a one-off engagement.
MVP’s long-term engagements include monitoring and crisis response, and a sudden incident can also be handled as a one-off engagement, priced by project. Describe the situation on the contact page.