NEWJEANS is taking significant legal steps in the United States. The group has sought assistance from a US Federal Court to uncover the identity of a YouTuber who has been allegedly spreading defamatory content about them.
According to a report in the New York Times, the group’s agency ADOR made a court filing on March 27. The company is requesting that the court order Google to reveal the identity of the person behind the YouTube account @Middle7.
ADOR previously filed a complaint in Seoul, but the case stalled due to the anonymity of the YouTube account. The approach to the US court followed Google’s refusal to disclose the YouTuber’s identity directly.
What is @Middle7?
A quick check on YouTube shows that the @Middle7 account currently has around 180 videos about K-pop groups, entirely in Korean. The court filing alleges that this includes videos about NEWJEANS that are “defamatory” and include “name-calling and other mocking behavior”.
At the time of writing, the YouTube account has 13.9k subscribers, and its videos have reportedly been viewed over 14 million times. Eugene Kim, the lawyer representing NEWJEANS in the lawsuit, said that the videos “continue to inflict significant reputational damage.”
NEWJEANS is not the first K-pop group to petition Google to uncover the identity of malicious YouTubers. Last year, Starship Entertainment requested the identity of the person behind the cyber wrecker YouTube channel Sojang. In January, Sojang was ordered to pay IVE member Wonyoung and Starship Entertainment 100 million won in damages. Sojang is currently appealing the verdict.
Hyein on hiatus due to injury
Meanwhile, separate from the legal action, NEWJEANS’ member Hyein is taking a hiatus due to a foot injury. ADOR announced that the young idol suffered a “microfracture” following dance practice. To ensure Hyein’s full recovery, she will temporarily halt all group activities.
Fans and the K-pop community have shown support and concern, hoping she will get well soon. NEWJEANS is scheduled to make a comeback in May, and we hope Hyein will be back on stage by then!
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