China's e-commerce giant Alibaba said on Thursday that its five-million-member online jury has become a key force in helping the firm tackle controversial Internet disputes.

Alibaba said the jury has delivered over 100 million verdicts since it first disputed a case in December 2012.

The company said from 2017, the jury has involved more legal experts, consumer rights activists, industrial insiders and government representatives, further enhancing the professional level of case settlements.

According to legal experts, some online disputes involve infringements that are difficult to check directly through laws and regulations. E-commerce platforms have found it hard to tackle such cases that lack a legal basis.

For example, some merchants with registered trademarks sell products online that resemble big brand products, which cannot be easily identified as fake goods under the law. In such a case, the online public jury can vote to determine the product's degree of fault.

Once the jury labels them as counterfeit goods, Alibaba will inspect and block their brands' online pass with analytical models.

On the company's online retail platforms, suspected fake goods are first filtered out using data tools and then sent to a jury with 500 or more members for review.

Alibaba has removed hundreds of counterfeit brands from its platform. They include products with trademarks such as "Fashion Adidas" and "Adidas Coodoo" that imitate the famous sportswear brand.

(Top image via VCG)