"Is IU a Chinese national?" Harassment poster's identity sought... materials requested from U.S. court

[Financial News] Singer and actress IU (IU, Lee Ji-eun) has turned to U.S. court procedures to identify the person who wrote false posts targeting her. The move is aimed at securing subscriber information needed for a defamation civil lawsuit in South Korea.

According to Dispatch on the 20th, IU filed a petition for discovery against Meta Platforms with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on the 15th. The procedure is intended to obtain materials for a defamation civil suit underway in South Korea.
IU's side reportedly claimed that the operator of a Threads account on a social networking service wrote a total of 52 false posts from March to October last year, damaging her reputation.

The petition also cited delays in the domestic legal process because the writer's identity has not been confirmed. IU's side asked the court to order Meta to provide subscriber information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and access IPs.
In the filing, IU's side divided the problematic posts into six categories. The categories include allegations of plagiarism, false claims related to China, false claims about overseas achievements, suspicions of exploiting the dead for marketing, allegations of media control and public opinion manipulation, and false claims linking lyrics to a national tragedy.
Regarding the plagiarism-related posts, IU's side said the matter was one in which defamation was recognized in 2024 and a court ordered 30 million won in damages. The side argued that A repeatedly posted the same content.

IU's side also said A posted content portraying IU as a Chinese national or a proxy for Chinese capital. It added that posts claiming she had no overseas popularity, as well as posts repeatedly raising suspicions of "marketing the dead" by mentioning the late Sulli, Jonghyun and Goo Hara, were also written repeatedly.
Earlier, her agency EDAM Entertainment announced in February that it was taking legal action against malicious posters. At the time, the agency said, "Through the law firm Shinwon, which is handling our legal representation, we filed criminal complaints and civil lawsuits against a total of 96 people last year," adding that some harassers had been fined.
EDAM said the outcomes included seven fines, one fine plus an order to complete a sexual violence treatment program, three suspended indictments conditioned on completing education, and one suspended prison sentence with probation.


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter