Starship Entertainment, which brought the cyber wrecker 'Taldeok Prison Camp' to court and subjected it to legal judgment, has once again declared war to protect its artists.
On the 11th, Starship Entertainment said on its official social media channels that it is taking continuous legal action against individuals who produce and distribute malicious content targeting our artists, including defamation, dissemination of false information, sexual harassment, personal attacks, insults, invasion of privacy and other malicious slander against An Yujin, Gaeul, Ray, Jang Wonyoung, Liz and Lee Seo.
According to Starship Entertainment, based on reports from fans and materials collected through its monitoring, complaints have been filed with investigative authorities regarding malicious posts on various platforms including X (formerly Twitter), DC Inside, Naver, Daum Cafe, Nate Pann, Instiz, TheQoo, MLB Park, FM Korea, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
Until now, responses to malicious commenters in the entertainment industry were often limited to showy warnings or cautions, but Starship Entertainment was different. The fight that began in 2022 went beyond simply filing complaints: it exposed the identity of A, the operator of 'Taldeok Prison Camp' who had been hiding on overseas servers to evade Korea's legal net, brought them to court and yielded results. By even using the unusual card of the U.S. court's discovery procedure, it led the eradication of malicious commenters and proved that online anonymity can never be "invincible" or a "shield."
A argued public interest during the trial, but the court did not accept that. On June 4 last year, the Seoul Central District Court partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff in Starship Entertainment's damages lawsuit against A, ordering A to pay Starship Entertainment 50 million won. The court found that A's creation and posting of false videos damaged Starship's honor and credibility and interfered with its business, and it firmly pointed out that the videos related to Jang Wonyoung were merely arbitrary edits not based on objective facts and excerpts of critical posts of unclear origin.
Given Starship Entertainment's dogged determination in catching malicious commenters and taking the lead in 'eradication' while leaving an important precedent, this declaration of war is not expected to be a mere showy warning.
Having set the precedent of 'pursuing and catching them to the end,' Starship Entertainment already monitors all online communities and platforms around the clock and has secured substantial evidence. Its official position that "posts have been submitted as evidence regardless of whether they were deleted or deactivated" reads as a chilling warning to those hiding behind anonymity.
In particular, Starship Entertainment said these actions are clearly illegal and cannot be tolerated or justified under any circumstances, and that it will not show leniency or exceptions on these issues and will strictly punish all responsible parties to the fullest extent permitted by law, confirming that this will not be a mere warning.
The era of cyber wreckers who hid behind the shield of anonymity and savaged artists came to an end with Starship Entertainment's harsh punishment of Taldeok Prison Camp. With the declaration of an indefinite war on malicious commenters and the statement that it will "continue to pursue strict legal measures including criminal complaints and civil lawsuits without leniency," attention is focused on whether it can take another step toward the 'eradication' of malicious commenters.
OSEN=Jang Wooyoung reporter