A member of the popular social networking site Renren discovered that another user had posted her photographs on this person's account on October 21, 2013, with comments that said she was a professional mistress, according to a report in the Jiefang Daily.

The user whose photos were posted, who was identified by the pseudonym Li Qiang in the report, immediately contacted Renren's customer service to have the defamatory material deleted from the site.

The poster went by the name Wang Yucheng on the site, though it remains unclear if this was the poster's real name. Renren replied to Li the next day saying that it "took care" of the user Wang and deleted the photos. However, it did not ban Wang's account or otherwise prevent Wang from reposting the photos. According to the report, Wang continued to post photos of Li on Renren with the defamatory comments.

Li asked Renren to give her Wang's IP address and identification number so she could identify the person behind the account and take the matter to the police. However, Renren refused, claiming that handing over such information would violate Wang's privacy.

During this period, Wang repeatedly posted Li's photos and defamatory comments. Li complained many times to Renren, but it refused to delete the subsequent comments. Renren justified its inaction by saying it was protecting Wang's freedom of speech.

Eventually, Li filed a lawsuit demanding that Renren delete the photos and comments, turn over information about Wang's identity and compensate her for her emotional distress. In response, Renren closed Wang's account and handed over his or her account information, IP address and gender.

After Li provided sound proof of her complaints, Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court ruled that Renren failed to take immediate action against Wang for defaming Li, thus causing her further damages. The court ordered Renren to pay Li 30,000 yuan ($4,788) for her emotional distress and 1,000 yuan to cover her legal fees.

Renren gives its users options to report others for their bad behavior on the site. But when Li took this issue to the company, it did not investigate Wang or take action to prevent this person from reposting what they already deleted, thus allowing his or her harassment of Li to continue.

The Tort Law of the People's Republic of China states that when someone uses an online service to infringe upon another user's rights, the victim has the right to require the service provider to delete, block and destroy the relevant links. If the service provider does not take timely action, then it has to take a share the responsibility for further damages.

It is understandable that Renren wants to protect the privacy of its users by refusing to release their personal information. But when another user's rights are violated, this policy seems inadequate.

The site states in its policies that it strictly protects users' personal information and will not give out their information without their permission. However, there is no clause in the policy for users who use the site to defame others. There was also no punishment listed for online bullies.

Renren claims to be a real-name social networking site. But in fact, it does not require enough information to verify a user's identity. This may explain why it could not pass along Wang's ID number to Li.

Individuals can register on renren.com with nothing more than an e-mail address. All the other required information, such as the user's name, employment status and education can be faked. Renren has no way of knowing because it does not ask for the ID numbers of its users. With these lax requirements, anyone who wants to use the site to attack others needs only to sign up.