By Tim Binnall
A popular vlogger in China was forced to issue an apology and pay restitution to a homeowner who took him to court after the man posted a video wherein he claimed her house was haunted. The weird case reportedly began when the internet star, identified as Lu, somehow managed to sneak into the residence of a woman named Zhou and filmed footage of what he asserted was paranormal activity. The video was apparently convincing enough that it went viral on social media in China, amassing millions of views and sparking all manner of speculation surrounding the 'ghostly happenings' in the home.
Upon discovering that her house, which is not actually haunted, had been used as the setting for the viral video, Zhou was understandably upset and attempted to get Lu to remove the wildly popular footage. As one might imagine, based on the traffic that the 'paranormal production' generated, the vlogger was unwilling to do so and, instead, simply blocked the aggrieved homeowner. To her credit, Zhou did not let this deter her and she decided to sue Lu for what she alleged was a violation of China's recently passed cyber-violence law. Despite the vlogger's insistence that he was innocent, the court disagreed and sided with the homeowner, who received a settlement of around $400 as well as a written apology from the internet star.