Those who raised cult-related suspicions about the group LE SSERAFIM are undergoing trial for defamation by false information. The agency announced that it plans to respond strongly to prevent recurrence.
On the 30th, LE SSERAFIM's agency, SOURCE MUSIC, stated through a fan community platform, "We are taking legal action against malicious posts regarding our artist LE SSERAFIM to protect their rights through fan tips and our own monitoring," and informed about the legal response regarding the infringement of the artist's rights.
On that day, the agency explained, "We would like to update fans on the progress since the last announcement of the lawsuit. We have actively clarified the realities of the artist's damage and have sincerely cooperated with the investigation procedure. As a result, the prosecution has recognized the charge of defamation by false information for comments using expressions related to political ideology or 'cult, heresy,' among other cases that have been sent to the prosecution for trial. Many cases have also been promptly processed, leading to confirmed sentences such as fines, as well as examples of criminal penalties being imposed."
They added, "We will closely monitor the progress of the ongoing investigations and, even if it takes some time, we will hold legal responsibility until the end, and we plan to continue our strong response to prevent a recurrence of similar acts in the future."
Previously, centered around a cyber wrecker YouTuber, it was claimed that LE SSERAFIM debuted as angels under the teachings of Dahn World, which led to the disbandment of the girl group GFRIEND. In addition, it was said that LE SSERAFIM members enjoy Dahn World meditation and have used gymnastics in their choreography. This is also currently being prosecuted under defamation by false information.
The agency also opened up about deepfake crimes involving LE SSERAFIM. They said, "We are responding sternly to deepfake crimes in cooperation with investigative agencies. We are conducting our own monitoring to identify and punish those involved in the production of deepfake materials through Telegram and have submitted a petition for strict punishment under the name of SOURCE MUSIC. Even when offenders request settlements or criminal deposits, we firmly reject these in order to ensure strong penalties, including prison sentences. We will also closely monitor ongoing trials and respond to ensure that strong punishments can be imposed."
Finally, the agency expressed gratitude by stating, "We deeply appreciate the support and trust from our fans who cherish LE SSERAFIM. SOURCE MUSIC will continue to think and act constantly to protect the rights of our artists."
Full statement from the agency SOURCE MUSIC
Hello.
This is SOURCE MUSIC.
We are taking legal action against malicious posts regarding our artist LE SSERAFIM to protect their rights through fan tips and our own monitoring.
First, we would like to update fans on the progress since the last announcement of the lawsuit. We have actively clarified the realities of the artist's damage and have sincerely cooperated with the investigation procedure. As a result, the prosecution has recognized the charge of defamation by false information for comments using expressions related to political ideology or "cult, heresy," among other cases that have been sent to the prosecution for trial. Many cases have also been promptly processed, leading to confirmed sentences such as fines, as well as examples of criminal penalties being imposed.
We will closely monitor the progress of ongoing investigations, and even if it takes some time, we will hold legal responsibility until the end, and we plan to continue our strong response to prevent a recurrence of similar acts in the future.
We are also responding seriously to deepfake crimes in cooperation with investigative agencies. We are conducting our own monitoring to identify and punish those involved in the production of deepfake materials through Telegram and have submitted a petition for strict punishment under the name of SOURCE MUSIC. Even when offenders request settlements or criminal deposits, we firmly reject these in order to ensure strong penalties, including prison sentences. We will also closely monitor ongoing trials and respond to ensure that strong penalties can be imposed.
In the first half of this year, a number of posts that defame the artist's reputation, constitute slander, or sexual harassment were identified. We monitored domestic communities such as Ilgan Best, DC Inside, Nate Pann, Theqoo, Instiz, Women's Era, Jjukbang Cafe, and FM Korea, as well as overseas SNS channels such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube, and music sites like Melon, Bugs, and GENIE MUSIC to collect and document malicious posts and submitted complaints to investigative agencies based on this. We will hold all malicious acts against artists accountable without leniency or settlement.
Tips from fans regarding LE SSERAFIM are a great help in legal actions. In fact, during the recent lawsuit process, we actively reflected valuable tips from fans in addition to our own monitoring work, leading to meaningful penalties in some cases. We deeply empathize with the fears and inconveniences that fans have experienced due to malicious posts, and we will continue to monitor fans' valuable tips regularly and actively reflect them in legal actions.
If you discover malicious posts related to the artist, we ask for your active reporting through the HYBE Integrated Reporting Site for Artist Rights Violations. To facilitate more effective legal actions from your reports, we recommend submitting them in full screen capture or in PDF format. In particular, capturing with clear identification of URL, poster, post content, capture date, etc., will greatly assist in the legal procedure.
We deeply appreciate the support and trust from our fans who cherish LE SSERAFIM.
SOURCE MUSIC will continue to think and act constantly to protect the rights of our artists.
[Photo] OSEN DB
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