K-pop agency HYBE asks US court to help unmask X account in defamation case (updated)

HYBE

30/05/2024 14:53

(Adds reaction from X account accused of defamation by HYBE in
paragraph 6, updates paragraph 10 to add the account's reach)
    By Hyunsu Yim and Peter Henderson
       SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) - Entertainment group HYBE, home
to K-pop group BTS, has asked a U.S. court to compel social
media platform X to reveal the identity of a user it accuses of
defamation and harassment, according to a court filing reviewed
by Reuters.
    The application for a court order is to assist a criminal
complaint filed by HYBE  352820.KS  against anonymous X user
with the handle "@guiltyarchive" with the Seoul Yongsan Police
Station on May 2, it showed.
    The case follows calls by BTS fans to better protect the
group against malicious rumours amid an ongoing internal dispute
with a sub-label.
    Some of the fans, known as ARMYs, sent flowers and trucks
bearing supportive messages to HYBE's headquarters in Seoul this
month and called on the firm to take legal action.
    HYBE said it had no comment to add. X Korea did not respond
to request for comment, while X Corp and HYBE's lawyer Eugene
Kim were not immediately available for comment.
    The operator of the account said to Reuters in a direct
message on X that the posts mentioned in the court filing were
"not defamatory against certain artists" and that they had been
deleted.
        In South Korea, those who make sensationalist social
media content, often targeting celebrities, are dubbed "cyber
wreckers" and have been blamed for encouraging cyberbullying.
    In a rare move, K-pop singer Jang Won-young and her agency
Starship Entertainment identified an individual behind a YouTube
channel with the help of Google while seeking lawsuits over
defamation charges against the individual.
    "It's a process of gathering evidence about a dispute in a
foreign court so when you judge freedom of expression, you don't
judge it from the standpoint of U.S. law," Kyongsok Chong at
LIWU Law Group, who is representing Jang and her agency, told
Reuters.
    HYBE's lawyer said in the legal document that "false" and
"defamatory" statements from the X account, which has over
100,000 followers, had caused irreparable harm to the firm's
business and shareholders.
    The X posts cited in the filing mention K-pop groups managed
by HYBE and its subsidiaries including BTS and girl group Le
Sserafim.
    The subpoena request was made at the San Francisco Division
of the United States District Court for the Northern District of
California, where X's headquarters are located.

 (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Jan Harvey and Alison
Williams)
 ((Hyunsu.Yim@thomsonreuters.com;))