Industry Insiders Explain Agencies' Decisions To Take Legal Action Against Malicious Commenters

The entertainment industry has been in an endless battle against malicious comments for years. Although some have tried taking appropriate action, more and more celebrities are suffering psychologically due to the ongoing and increasing number of malicious commenters.

Many entertainment agencies have warned of legal action, but the malicious comments and slanderous posts have not stopped, leaving many agencies to repeat their warnings of legal action multiple times a month.

Just this month, IU‘s agency FAVE Entertainment and Starship Entertainment announced that they’ll be taking legal action against malicious commenters.

Last December, SM Entertainment stated that they will be taking legal action with the help of a law firm, and YG Entertainment also made a similar statement in February.

JYP Entertainment has been consistently fighting back against malicious commenters since 2014.

Agencies of Wanna One’s Kang Daniel, Yoon Ji Sung, Bae Jin Young, Ong Seong Woo, Lee Dae Hwi, Park Woo Jin, Lai Guan Lin, and Park Ji Hoon also submitted or shared plans to submit criminal complaints against those who spread and created malicious posts.

In January, actors including Lee Bo Young, Oh Yeon Seo, Ryu Jun Yeol, and Sung Yuri also took legal action.

The reason why agencies have increased their level of response is because they have decided that the spread of malicious slanderous information and defamation posts in comments, online communities, and social media have crossed the line.

Using anonymity as their weapon, people spread false information while pretending to be former school friends of celebrities, sexually harass celebrities, gang up against celebrities, and even target families, causing celebrities extreme psychological harm.

In the past, many popular celebrities tolerated malicious comments as the public’s attention and forgave them after their identities was revealed, but circumstances have now changed.

A director of an agency said, “Taking mercy is not the answer, and we’re taking principled action according to the manual. These days, there are many sites with servers in foreign countries, so expressions online have become much more violent, and these kinds of posts are being indiscriminately spread in online communities and on social media.”

The public relations manager of another agency said, “When a malicious rumor circulates, it’s useless to clarify it because it’s already become as if it’s true. The celebrity has to endure the mental damage after their image becomes seriously tarnished. There are quite a few celebrities who seek hospitals or counseling centers because they find it difficult to continue their activities.”

Fans have also actively participated with the agencies in regards to taking legal action. If the agency is timid about responding, fans insist for them to take stronger action. Fans also collect data on commenters who frequently post malicious comments and report them to the agency.

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