The five-member male group Cortis said it will pursue legal action against malicious fans. The action includes malicious online posts and comments, illegal distribution of flight information, and invasions of privacy.
On the 29th, BigHit Music, Cortis' agency, said on Weverse, "With constant monitoring and valuable tips from COER (the official fan club), we are filing regular criminal complaints."
The main legal actions Cortis released include ▲ malicious posts and acts that infringe on the artist's rights and interests ▲ illegal distribution of immigration flight information ▲ invasions of privacy and violations of fan etiquette.
On malicious posts and infringements of artists' rights and interests, the company said, "We identified posts and comments on major communities, portal sites, various social media account, and music sites."
It added, "These include disparagement and insults toward the artists, spreading false information about album and song performance, and manipulating artists' photos to violate their dignity and cause sexual humiliation."
BigHit Music said, "Given that most members are minors, creating and spreading malicious posts is even more seriously unlawful," adding, "We are seeking stern punishment under a zero-tolerance policy with no settlements or leniency."
On the leak of immigration information, it said, "We collected focused evidence on multiple heavy uploader account that illegally sell artists' immigration flight information on social media (SNS) and online, and we filed complaints last month."
The company said, "Both selling and purchasing artists' immigration flight information constitute illegal acts under the Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection," adding, "We will actively cooperate with investigative agencies to eradicate this."
Regarding invasions of privacy, it said, "We are responding proactively," adding, "We recently detected multiple invasions of privacy and violations of fan etiquette and took measures including police reports, verbal warnings, and deletion of recordings."
Cases the company disclosed included "trespassing or staking out private spaces such as the lodging parking lot," and "joining as event staff or affiliates to approach for private purposes and attempt conversations."
There were also cases such as "coming to nonpublic schedules or persistently following artists during their personal time," and "unauthorized filming of them resting in airport lounges and on aircraft or persistently following them."
In particular, during the Paris, France schedule, multiple fans attached GPS (tracking devices) to the artist's vehicle or tailed them persistently by using local cars and drivers to follow movement routes, including nonpublic and personal schedules.
There were also instances where fans who were restricted from attending events for etiquette violations roamed inside the lodging where the artists were staying to wait for them, or moved near the artists' seats on aircraft despite being assigned to different sections.
BigHit Music said the company will also respond proactively when, during efforts to stop and warn against such acts, fan etiquette violators harm on-site security and operations staff with verbal abuse or assault, or distort legitimate protective measures to spread false information.
The company added, "We always put the safety of Cortis members first and will respond strictly to violations of fan etiquette," and "We ask for COER's cooperation for a mature fan culture."