Pledis Entertainment Takes Legal Action Against Malicious Commenters

Pledis Entertainment has filed a complaint against malicious commenters for spreading libel and rumors of its artists.

On April 11, the agency, which houses artists including NU’EST, SEVENTEEN, and PRISTIN, shared the notice on its website.

The statement reads as follows:

Hello. This is Pledis Entertainment.

First of all, we would like to thank our fans for caring and supporting the artists of Pledis Entertainment (hence referred to as Pledis).

Regarding netizens who defamed our artists with slandering and false information, we have filed a complaint with the cyber investigation team of the Mapo Police Station in Seoul earlier today [April 11] and formally requested an investigation of the violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, and we officially convey our position regarding this matter.

In addition, we would like to inform [everyone] that we will take legal action against the original creators and disseminators of the rumors that have been circling on social media and online communities, as this could cause serious damage to the artists’ image, reputation, and character.

Previously, on Pledis’s official website, we had announced we would take strong legal action regarding [everything] related to ‘artist defamation.’ We finished our legal review of the PDF files and self-monitoring materials that fans have sent us, and have filed the first application of the complaint today with the law firm Jipyong.

It took a long time to file the complaint because there was a massive number of PDFs previously sent from the fans and there were many things to check, so we are very sorry about that. Once again, we apologize for the delay.

We would like to reiterate that this legal action is not a show of force, but a strong response, and we will actively cooperate with the upcoming criminal investigation process. We will continue to focus our efforts on protecting artist rights through continuous monitoring and proactivily taking action, and we will be filing a second complaint within April 2019.

The production and distribution of malicious rumors against artists is a violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, and can result in a sentence of up to three years in prison or 30 million won (approximately $26,319) in fines, or up to seven years in prison or 50 million won (approximately $43,871) in fines, even if the content is true.

Please be aware that such malicious comments are a crime, so we respectfully ask to refrain from believing in anonymity and hurting others through malicious comments.

As an agency, Pledis will continue to do everything it can to protect the rights and interests of [our] artists. Once again, we would like to thank everyone who loves and cares for our artists and ask for their continued warm support and support.

Thank you.

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