Starship Entertainment calls for harsh legal sanctions against controversial YouTube channel Sojang

On September 14, Starship Entertainment, an entertainment agency home to many popular K-pop groups and actors, have made an official statement, demanding severe legal action against YouTube channel Sojang (also known as Taldeok Camp). Sojang is a YouTube channel notorious for producing and disseminating fake Korean entertainment related news under the pretext of entertainment industry issues. In the lengthy post, Starship Entertainment voiced their concerns. 

In the statement, Starship Entertainment stated, "Starship Entertainment's artists and staff, who have been continuously harassed by Sojang, a notorious channel that supports cyberbullying by producing and spreading fake news in the name of raising awareness for entertainment industry issues, are demanding strict legal action." They also add, "Since November 2022, we have been pursuing civil and criminal lawsuits against Sojang both domestically and internationally." 

However, despite facing legal action, Sojang continued to spread false information which Starship Entertainment claimed to have caused serious damage to their reputation, disrupting their operations and inflicting pain on their artists as well as their artists fans. They stress, "We are putting out utmost effort into pursuing legal responsibility through the ongoing lawsuits. However, without a stringent legal judgement, we fear that Sojang is showing no sign of remorse and may repeat such actions." They also voice their concerns about the emergence of similar channels in the future should Sojang not receive harsh legal backlash. 

The statement ends with the agency noting the negative influence of such malicious YouTube channels, going beyond just threatening the operations and reputation of an artist, "We believe that imposing strict penalties on Sojang for spreading fake news through legal action can raise awareness about cyberbullying caused by fake news and prevent the vile practice of 'view-count profiteering' that exploits the suffering of others online and on social media."

Meanwhile, Sojang's YouTube channel was hacked earlier this year, forcing the mastermind behind this YouTube channel to make a statement of apology, which mentioned Jang Won Young, who was a victim of multiple videos of theirs.