Big Hit Music is calling on BTS fans to help it go after people who are hating on J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga and V.
In a message on the Weverse platform last week, the label said it has filed “additional criminal complaints against postings with personal attacks and defamation” thanks to intel from ARMY.
Big Hit shared a similar statement this time last year.
The company urged fans to report examples of “personal attacks, sexual harassment, the spread of groundless information, and ill-intentioned criticism” via an email address it set up (protect@bighitmusic.co.kr).
Under South Korean law, people can be criminally charged with defamation even if what they said or wrote is true. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has urged the government to abolish the law.
In Canada (and many other countries), defamation is strictly a civil matter and can be defended by proving that the statements are true or fair comment.
Big Hit reiterated that it “regularly initiates legal proceedings against perpetrators of malicious activities related to BTS” and said “there will be no settlement nor leniency… our policy of no settlement and no leniency remains in effect.”
Last month, the members of BTS announced they are taking a break to focus on solo projects.
South Korea’s conscription law requires most males to register to start 18 months of military service by the time they are 28 – but a 2021 amendment allows pop stars who have received government medals to apply for deferment of their military service until they are 30. The members of BTS – who received the Order of Cultural Merit by president Moon Jae-In in 2018 – currently range in age from 24 to 29. (Jin turns 30 in December and Suga will be 30 next March.)