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Singer and actor Choi Si Won has reportedly filed a lawsuit against people who posted malicious content online targeting him, and it has now been confirmed that he recently obtained their identities through a U.S. court.
According to a July 3 report by Sisa Journal, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Choi Si Won's July 2 application to identify 10 users of overseas platforms, including X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube.
According to records obtained by Sisa Journal, Choi Si Won had been subjected to persistent malicious online comments following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's December 3 declaration of martial law.
The malicious comments intensified after Choi Si Won posted on his social media the four-character idiom, "Bului Pilmang, Tobung Wahae" (不義必亡 土崩瓦解—"That which is unjust is bound to perish, collapsing like crumbling earth and shattered roof tiles"), along with a Bible verse, shortly after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment in his first trial in February on charges of leading an insurrection.
The post was interpreted as carrying a political message, fueling controversy.
Afterward, insulting and mocking comments targeting Choi Si Won's political views, religion, appearance, and career continued to appear on X and YouTube. The comments ranged from criticisms such as "Leave Super Junior," "If you're going to do politics, become a politician," and "Are you clinging to your idol title because of the money?" to posts attacking him by linking him to a particular religion.
Choi Si Won filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court against the 10 individuals, seeking damages for insult and defamation. He subsequently petitioned a U.S. court to order X and Google — the operators of the platforms — to disclose information such as the defendants' names, dates of birth, and addresses so their identities could be established for the litigation.
Choi Si Won's legal representatives requested that the application be granted, stating, "Given the Korean language used in the posts and the location data associated with the accounts, we do not believe that any of the users are U.S. citizens or are located in the United States."
The court granted Choi Si Won's request. In particular, the court cited precedent holding that the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, does not apply to foreign nationals outside U.S. territory, stating that "the posts concern persons residing in South Korea, and there is no basis to conclude that the authors are U.S. citizens." Accordingly, it found no potential infringement of the First Amendment. The court also determined that the scope of the request was narrowly limited to information necessary to identify the defendants and was therefore not overly broad.
With this ruling granting the application, Choi Si Won is now able to proceed with the lawsuit in South Korea. His agency, SM Entertainment, had previously stated, "To protect our artists, we are collecting evidence of fabricated information and posts mocking [the artist], and we will progressively expand our legal action against any unlawful conduct that is confirmed," suggesting that further legal measures are expected to follow.
Source: Sisa Journal
