Singer-actor IU [Newsis]
Singer-actor IU [Newsis]

Singer and actor IU, whose real name is Lee Ji-eun, has called on Meta to hand over user information through a US court in an effort to identify an anonymous online defamer.

IU filed an application Wednesday under 28 USC §1782 at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking discovery from Meta to gather evidence for an ongoing civil defamation lawsuit in South Korea, entertainment outlet Dispatch reported.

According to the filing, IU asked Meta to provide identifying information it holds on a specific Threads account user, including the person's name, address, phone number, email address and login IP data.

IU had been unable to identify the account holder, referred to as Person A, hampering the progress of the lawsuit.

IU's side said Person A had damaged her reputation by posting a total of 52 defamatory and false items between March and October last year.

Person A repeatedly posted claims that IU had plagiarized other artists' music. A South Korean court ruled in 2024 that such posts constituted defamation and ordered 30 million won ($20,200) in damages.

The filing also states that Person A spread false claims portraying IU as Chinese — describing her as "an ethnic Chinese person fluent in Cantonese" — and as an agent of Chinese capital.

Person A also claimed that IU's Netflix drama series "When Life Gives You Tangerines" had flopped, and spread false allegations that IU had exploited the deaths of the late celebrities Sulli, Jonghyun and Goo Hara, the filing said.

Person A further posted false claims that IU controls the media in the manner of the Chinese Communist Party, and that some of her songs mock the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush and the Sewol ferry disaster.

Meanwhile, IU filed criminal complaints and civil suits in 2023 against 96 internet users who had spread various rumors, including claims that she was a spy.

Her agency, EDAM Entertainment, said the legal actions resulted in seven fines and one combined sentence of a fine and a mandatory sexual violence treatment program for those who had posted malicious content against IU, including the spy rumors.


ygmoon@heraldcorp.com