A very popular K-pop act named NewJeans has requested a federal court in California to mandate Google to reveal the identity of the user behind a YouTube account that the members claim is spreading defamatory claims about them.
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According to the court complaint, the claims were made by a YouTube user whose handle is @Middle7. This was done in dozens of videos that have been seen over 13 million times.
The group’s lawyer, Eugene Kim, wrote that the account owner had also done some “name-calling or other mocking behavior” toward NewJeans. The complaint states that the videos “continue to inflict significant reputational damage,”
The move was made on March 27 and is the latest example of K-pop musicians dealing with the strains of South Korea’s fervent internet fan culture.
If the motion is approved, the group will be able to sue the YouTube user in South Korea for defamation and insult, both of which are criminal charges in the country.
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Ador, NewJeans’ management agency, said in a statement, “We regularly take legal action for violations of artists’ rights,” indicating that a lawsuit was being pursued against the videos.
Mun Hui Kim, a lawyer who represents NewJeans in South Korea, declined to make any comment about it. Google did not respond to the requests for comment either. The YouTube account’s owner could not be reached at the time of the report.
NewJeans, which features five members, achieved No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list last year with its second album titled “Get Up,” as part of the newest generation of South Korean girl groups making waves in K-pop.