On July 3, Baidu held an AI developer conference at the Beijing National Convention Center, where an unexpected incident occurred: a man poured water on Baidu's leader, Robin Li, in public with a water bottle. The event was sudden, and the scene fell into silence.

The suspected water-pourer's Weibo account was quickly uncovered by netizens, and based on the man's recent posts, the water-pouring act was premeditated.

　　A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firmstated that the man's behavior constituted a disturbance of public order, violating relevant provisions of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, but did not yet constitute a criminal offense. At the same time, it involved civil infringement, requiring corresponding civil liability.

According to Article 42 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, publicly insulting others results in detention of up to five days or a fine of up to 500 yuan; for serious cases, detention of five to ten days, with a possible additional fine of up to 500 yuan.

In accordance with the Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China.

　　Article 2Infringement upon civil rights and interests shall be subject to tort liability in accordance with this Law. The civil rights and interests referred to in this Law include the right to life, right to health, right to name, right to reputation, right to honor, right to portrait, right to privacy, right to marital autonomy, guardianship, ownership, usufructuary rights, security interests, copyright, patent rights, trademark rights, discovery rights, equity, inheritance rights, and other personal and property rights and interests.

　　Article 3The infringed party has the right to request the infringer to bear tort liability.

　　Article 4If the infringer bears administrative or criminal liability for the same act, it shall not affect the tort liability to be borne in accordance with the law. If the infringer is to bear tort liability, administrative liability, and criminal liability for the same act, and the infringer's property is insufficient to pay, the tort liability shall be borne first.

　　Furthermore, if Li Yanhong can be identified as Baidu's brand image spokesperson and it can be confirmed that the water-throwing incident led to a decline in Baidu's performance, then Baidu also has the right to demand compensation from the water-thrower for the performance loss.

According to the latest data, Baidu's performance in 2018 exceeded 100 billion yuan, and any decline is calculated in billions. It is uncertain whether the man's assets are sufficient to cover this compensation.

Although Baidu's actions in recent years have indeed been infuriating, fighting evil with evil should not be encouraged. If the water-thrower had been holding a gun today, the consequences would have been unimaginable.