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AII-1002-51511
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IU sues 180 people for online harassment and deepfake content

K-pop soloist IU's agency filed complaints against 180 people for online harassment, deepfake creation, and defamation in November 2024. The defendants allegedly created and distributed AI-generated deepfake content, made false plagiarism accusations, issued death threats, and engaged in privacy violations and sexual harassment against the artist.

11 November 2024 Β· EDAM Entertainment Β· Harmful and abusive content
11 November 2024
AII-1002-51511
Quick facts
Category
Harmful and abusive content
Country
South Korea
Date
11 November 2024
Drafted by
Raidu Incident Detection

What happened

On November 11, 2024, EDAM Entertainment, the agency representing K-pop soloist IU (Lee Ji Eun), filed official complaints against 180 individuals for severe harassment and criminal acts. The complaints include threats, unfounded accusations of plagiarism, creation and distribution of AI-generated deepfake content, death threats, privacy violations, sexual harassment, and distribution of obscene content.

One of the 180 individuals reported is believed to be a former middle school classmate of IU who allegedly falsified plagiarism accusations against the artist using an overseas server and continued to harass her despite ongoing cases. The agency stated it will pursue additional legal action against those who make malicious posts against the artist.

Reported impact

IU faced severe harassment including death threats, false plagiarism accusations, and espionage allegations. The creation and distribution of AI-generated deepfake materials caused reputational harm to the artist.

Classification

Category
Harmful and abusive content
Industry
Media, social platforms and marketing
Country
South Korea
Harm status
Actual harm
Intent
Intentional
Timing
Unknown
Harm types
Human or fundamental rights, Psychological, Reputational
Failure modes
Deepfake image, Deepfake video
Consequences
Litigation
AI systems
AI-generated deepfake content creation tools

Sources and evidence

Sources not yet published

This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.

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