"Defamation Beyond Limits With 'Chinese Nationality, Plagiarism' Claims... IU Requests U.S. Court to Identify Malicious Commenter"

Tracking Down User Who Authored 52 Malicious Posts
Allegations Include "Plagiarism," "Exploiting the Deceased for Marketing," and "Chinese Nationality"
Defamation Lawsuit Planned Over Spread of False Information

Singer IU has requested identity verification from a U.S. court in an effort to track down the author of malicious online posts.

Singer IU. Provided by IDAM Entertainment.

According to her agency, IDAM Entertainment, on July 20, IU's team filed a request for disclosure of information with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 15. The purpose was to secure evidence that could identify the author of the malicious posts and use it in an ongoing defamation lawsuit in Korea.

Previously, IU's team reported that user A, the malicious commenter, had defamed her by posting a total of 52 false statements via a social networking service (SNS) account, including: allegations of plagiarism; false claims involving China; false claims regarding IU's international performance; allegations of using deceased celebrities for marketing; accusations of media control and public opinion manipulation; and posts connecting song lyrics to national tragedies.

However, IU's team explained that they have been unable to identify user A, and therefore found it difficult to pursue the lawsuit in Korea. They have thus asked the U.S. court to order Meta to provide information including A's name, address, phone number, email, and connection IP address.

The application stated that user A had repeatedly posted claims asserting "IU plagiarized songs by other artists." In addition, user A repeatedly spread false information by portraying IU as an agent of Chinese nationality or capital, with posts such as "The organizations and cosmetics brands IU donates to are Chinese companies" and "She is an ethnic Chinese who is fluent in Cantonese."

User A also repeatedly claimed that "IU is virtually unpopular overseas, and 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' also failed internationally," to which IU's side responded by presenting international streaming data and records of her global achievements as evidence to refute the allegations.

Furthermore, IU's team noted that user A shared videos on multiple occasions, referring to now-deceased artists and stating things like "Exposing the seriousness of female singer B's deceased-person marketing," accusing IU of exploiting someone's passing as a marketing tool and spreading such false information.

IU's team also asserted that the account repeatedly posted allegations regarding media control and manipulation, stating things like, "I've never seen a celebrity control the media like the Chinese Communist Party does. Even politicians can't do that," as part of the claims made.

Finally, user A reportedly attempted to associate IU's songs with national tragedies, claiming "'Strawberry Moon' refers to the Itaewon disaster, and 'Ah puh' is a song mocking the Sewol Ferry tragedy." IU's team pointed out that A spread these false claims without any factual basis.

Meanwhile, the agency made a statement in February, announcing that a total of 96 individuals who had created malicious posts including defamation, insults, spreading of false information, malicious slander, and sexual harassment targeting IU, were criminally prosecuted and sued in civil court last year. In addition, one netizen received a four-month suspended prison sentence with one year of probation on appeal last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.