Grieving Chinese parents of late infant Xiao Pufufaced online slander of their child by a netizen, receiving only minor legal penalties and vowing to appeal.
A new mother who had just suffered the pain of losing her only child had been clinging to her child’s cold blanket ever since. She lay in bed all day, weeping constantly, and would only eat a few bites of food after being coaxed by her elderly relatives.That day, while scrolling through social media, she came across a vulgar, false rumor video created using photos of her own stillborn child. She immediately collapsed face-down onto the floor.
In Hangzhou, a baby girl named “Xiaopaufu,” who was just 23 days old, passed away unexpectedly in October 2025 after choking on her milk.The baby’s parents were both ordinary wage earners who had waited five years to finally conceive this child. Throughout the pregnancy, the couple would review the prenatal checkup reports over a dozen times each, and after the baby was born, they couldn’t even bring themselves to sleep soundly, taking turns keeping vigil by the crib.After their child suddenly passed away, the couple cried while holding her tiny clothes until they fainted several times; during the funeral arrangements, they were completely
They were both in a daze; even the hand that signed the papers was trembling. It took them over a month to recover, and even their relatives at home didn’t dare mention the child’s name in front of them.
Unexpectedly, a netizen with the username “Cao Something” secretly dug up photos that the child’s family had posted on a private social media account—intended solely to commemorate the child—edited them into a malicious, false video, and spread it far and wide, accompanied by captions that grew increasingly vile with each post.When the family contacted the person to demand the video be removed and an apology be issued, the individual not only ignored them but rolled their eyes and acted like a complete scoundrel, saying, “I’ve already posted it—go take it up with whoever you want.”
With no other options, the family was forced to call the police. They later compiled a complete set of evidence and filed a complaint with the court, seeking 100,000 yuan in compensation for emotional distress, hoping only that the person who had made a mockery of the deceased would receive the punishment they deserved.
In the end, the police imposed only a 500-yuan administrative fine on Cao Moumou.
In June 2026, the Fuyang Court in Hangzhou issued its first-instance judgment, finding Cao Moumou guilty only of infringing on the right to one’s likeness. The court ordered him to issue a public apology and pay 5,000 yuan in compensation for emotional distress, but did not find him guilty of defamation.On the day the
family received the judgment, the new mother had just completed a forensic evaluation for postpartum depression; however, when this evaluation was submitted to the court, it was not accepted as evidence. The 5,000 yuan in compensation is not even enough to buy a decent gravestone for the child at a public cemetery; such a lenient punishment clearly serves no deterrent purpose.
The couple immediately made it clear that they would appeal, insisting that the rumor-monger pay the appropriate price. As of September 2026, the case remains in the appeals stage, and the second-instance ruling has not yet been issued.The notion that “the
internet is not a lawless zone” has been widely recognized for years, yet when it comes to seeking justice for an innocent child who has passed away, the punishment meted out seems so trivial.
Anyone who puts themselves in this situation—imagining their own child’s death being exploited to generate clicks through false rumors—would find it impossible to simply let this slide.
It is not hard to see whether such a lenient verdict can truly put a stop to this perverse trend of capitalizing on others’ misfortune to spread falsehoods.
I have friends who have gone through similar distressing experiences. When faced with malicious rumors like these, don’t just stand by as a passive bystander—report them through the proper channels when necessary, and speak out objectively when appropriate. Let’s not allow law-abiding, ordinary people to suffer such injustices without a proper recourse for redress.
