BTS Label Big Hit Responds To "Malicious Posts" With Legal Action

BigHit, the South Korean music label/entertainment company behind the ultra-famous K-Pop group BTS is taking a stand against "malicious posts" directed towards the band that is currently on a much-deserved "rest" period. The company has apparently filed complaints with the police over online posts that speak of BTS in a derogatory manner on the grounds of criminal insult and public defamation. Going in detail about the decision, the entertainment house released a press release that failed to describe what exactly these "malicious posts" entail but this is what Big Hit had to say, "Hello, this is Big Hit Entertainment. Here is our notice on the progress of our legal action against malicious posts regarding BTS. We are regularly taking legal action against malicious slander, the spread of false rumors, personal attacks, and defamation regarding BTS based on our own internal procedures. Currently, we are in the process of taking legal action against the posts we gathered during the first half of the year. Of these, we have completed filing an official complaint to the Namdaemun Police Station against the netizens who continuously created malicious comments and posts on online communities, portal sites, and social media that have gone beyond the boundaries of what is socially acceptable. The data was collected through our own monitoring and the Big Hit tip-off account and was submitted [to the police], who are carrying out an investigation on the suspects based on the data. We apologize for the late notice, as we had to secure the identities of the suspects and keep them confidential. We have persistently taken strong legal action against the personal attacks and defamation of our agency’s artists, and as long as these behaviors persist, we will continue to take the same measures. As always, we emphasize that there will be no mercy or negotiation. We ask fans for their cooperation. We will work harder to protect the rights of our artists. Thank you." While the laws regarding defamation are different in every country, people in South Korea are actually in danger of getting criminally prosecuted with imprisonment or a fine since the South Korean laws sanction punishment for such behavior even if the statement in question is a mere fact or a true statement. The company previously made headlines when it was revealed that the label made approximately Rs. 1100 Crores (Rs. 11,91,73,06,000) during the first half of 2019 which is actually close to the amount that the company turned over during the entire year of 2018.