Pledis says it will pursue strong legal action against malicious defamation, false rumors, and attacks on SEVENTEEN members.

SEVENTEEN’s agency has made clear its legal measures against defamation and slander. Pledis Entertainment said on the 2nd through its official SNS, “We maintain a firm policy of strong legal response to any act that infringes on the rights and interests of our artist SEVENTEEN,” and explained the status of legal measures. It continued, “Recently, we have confirmed that malicious defamation, personal attacks, the spread of false facts, and defamatory posts against our artists are spreading mainly on SNS and online communities. In particular, we are also closely monitoring acts that distort the facts by using the artist as an individual or military service as a subject, and acts that maliciously edit videos and photos to demean or ridicule the artist.” It also emphasized, “We are collecting evidence from multiple angles and taking legal response measures. We inform you that even if posts or accounts are deleted, legal measures may be taken based on evidence materials already secured through real-time monitoring.” In particular, it said, “Malicious mockery and defamation against members who are faithfully fulfilling their military duty are a serious problem that can not only damage the artist’s honor but also harm a stable military service environment,” and warned, “Not only the original creator or poster, but also those who maliciously spread it, will be dealt with strictly based on the principle of zero tolerance with no leniency or settlement.” ・SEVENTEEN surpasses 15 billion yen in one year! Records No. 1 in Asia tour sales... proving overwhelming popularity ・SEVENTEEN opens a new paradigm of the ‘military activity period’! Attention on diverse activities through units and solos [Full official comment from Pledis Entertainment] Hello. This is Pledis Entertainment. We maintain a firm policy of strong legal response to any act that infringes on the rights and interests of our artist SEVENTEEN. We would like to inform you of the progress regarding matters that we have been intensively monitoring recently and our future response policy as follows. 1. Strong response to malicious defamation and demeaning acts Recently, we have confirmed that malicious defamation, personal attacks, the spread of false facts, and defamatory posts against our artists are spreading mainly on SNS and online communities. In particular, we are also closely monitoring acts that distort the facts by using the artist as an individual or military service as a subject, and acts that maliciously edit videos and photos to demean and ridicule the artist. We recognize such acts as serious matters that significantly damage the artist’s personality and honor, and we are responding strictly to them. While proceeding with all-around monitoring and evidence collection for related posts and malicious comments, we will continue to take the necessary strong measures, including civil and criminal legal responses, for cases in which illegality is confirmed. In particular, we are also collecting evidence from multiple angles and taking legal response measures against accounts that create and spread content through X and Instagram for the purpose of defaming the artist. Even if posts or accounts are deleted, we inform you that legal measures may be taken based on evidence materials already secured through real-time monitoring. Malicious mockery and defamation against members who are currently faithfully fulfilling their military duty are a serious problem that can not only damage the artist’s honor but also harm a stable military service environment. In order to protect the rights and interests of our artists, we will deal strictly, based on the principle of zero tolerance with no leniency or settlement, not only with the original creators or posters of malicious defamation and defamation acts, but also with those who maliciously spread them. 2. Guidance on platform-specific evidence collection and reporting We continuously collect malicious posts from major online communities and SNS through our own real-time monitoring system. In addition, the valuable reports sent by fans through the “Report Site for Rights Infringement of HYBE Artists” are greatly helping legal responses for the artists. In order to enable faster and more accurate legal review of malicious posts, when reporting, we recommend submitting them in the form of a full-screen PC capture in which the URL, poster name, post content, and the date and time of posting and capture can all be clearly confirmed, or in PDF file form (a file saved as PDF through the print menu). Also, please refer to the platform-specific guides below. * Online communities [NAVER, Daum (including communities such as “Yeoseong Sidae” and “Chukbang”), Nate, Dcinside, Instiz, FMKorea, theqoo, etc.] - Capture so that the title of the post, the body, the creator’s nickname or ID, the date and time of creation, the board name, and the post’s unique URL can all be confirmed - In the case of malicious comments, capture so that the content of the comment, the commenter information, the posting time, and the URL of the original post can be confirmed together * X (formerly Twitter) - Capture so that the post text, account name, account’s unique ID (@ID), posting time, and unique URL can be confirmed - If images or videos are included, submit the relevant image and video materials as well * Instagram - Capture so that the content of the problematic post, comment, story, etc., the account name (@ID), posting time, and unique URL can be confirmed - If the content of a video such as Reels is problematic, submit the problematic video file or screen recording file as well - For content such as stories that becomes difficult to confirm after a certain period of time, submit a screen capture or screen recording file from that time We sincerely thank the fans who always send unchanging love and support to SEVENTEEN. Going forward, our company will continue to prioritize the protection of the artist’s honor and rights and will actively respond to protect the artist. Thank you. [Full official comment from Pledis Entertainment] Hello. This is Pledis Entertainment. We maintain a firm policy of strong legal response to any act that infringes on the rights and interests of our artist SEVENTEEN. We would like to inform you of the progress regarding matters that we have been intensively monitoring recently and our future response policy as follows. 1. Strong response to malicious defamation and demeaning acts Recently, we have confirmed that malicious defamation, personal attacks, the spread of false facts, and defamatory posts against our artists are spreading mainly on SNS and online communities. In particular, we are also closely monitoring acts that distort the facts by using the artist as an individual or military service as a subject, and acts that maliciously edit videos and photos to demean and ridicule the artist. We recognize such acts as serious matters that significantly damage the artist’s personality and honor, and we are responding strictly to them. While proceeding with all-around monitoring and evidence collection for related posts and malicious comments, we will continue to take the necessary strong measures, including civil and criminal legal responses, for cases in which illegality is confirmed. In particular, we are also collecting evidence from multiple angles and taking legal response measures against accounts that create and spread content through X and Instagram for the purpose of defaming the artist. Even if posts or accounts are deleted, we inform you that legal measures may be taken based on evidence materials already secured through real-time monitoring. Malicious mockery and defamation against members who are currently faithfully fulfilling their military duty are a serious problem that can not only damage the artist’s honor but also harm a stable military service environment. In order to protect the rights and interests of our artists, we will deal strictly, based on the principle of zero tolerance with no leniency or settlement, not only with the original creators or posters of malicious defamation and defamation acts, but also with those who maliciously spread them. 2. Guidance on platform-specific evidence collection and reporting We continuously collect malicious posts from major online communities and SNS through our own real-time monitoring system. In addition, the valuable reports sent by fans through the “Report Site for Rights Infringement of HYBE Artists” are greatly helping legal responses for the artists. In order to enable faster and more accurate legal review of malicious posts, when reporting, we recommend submitting them in the form of a full-screen PC capture in which the URL, poster name, post content, and the date and time of posting and capture can all be clearly confirmed, or in PDF file form (a file saved as PDF through the print menu). Also, please refer to the platform-specific guides below. * Online communities [NAVER, Daum (including communities such as “Yeoseong Sidae” and “Chukbang”), Nate, Dcinside, Instiz, FMKorea, theqoo, etc.] - Capture so that the title of the post, the body, the creator’s nickname or ID, the date and time of creation, the board name, and the post’s unique URL can all be confirmed - In the case of malicious comments, capture so that the content of the comment, the commenter information, the posting time, and the URL of the original post can be confirmed together * X (formerly Twitter) - Capture so that the post text, account name, account’s unique ID (@ID), posting time, and unique URL can be confirmed - If images or videos are included, submit the relevant image and video materials as well * Instagram - Capture so that the content of the problematic post, comment, story, etc., the account name (@ID), posting time, and unique URL can be confirmed - If the content of a video such as Reels is problematic, submit the problematic video file or screen recording file as well - For content such as stories that becomes difficult to confirm after a certain period of time, submit a screen capture or screen recording file from that time We sincerely thank the fans who always send unchanging love and support to SEVENTEEN. Going forward, our company will continue to prioritize the protection of the artist’s honor and rights and will actively respond to protect the artist. Thank you.