August 10, 2026  ·  Complaint filed July 15, 2026  ·  United States District Court, Northern District of California, No. 5:26-mc-80211-SVK

Newman News, By David Brunk

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IU v. Anonymous Poster Asks U.S. Court to Unmask Threads Troll for Korean Defamation Case

52 Defamatory Posts, Six Categories of False Claims

South Korean singer Lee Ji-eun, known professionally as IU, has asked a California federal court to compel Meta Platforms Inc. to disclose the identity of an anonymous Threads user who allegedly published 52 defamatory posts about her between March 20 and October 18, 2025, according to an ex parte application filed July 15, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The posts, which spanned six distinct categories of false claims, included specific allegations that the complaint describes as "false, defamatory, and harassing statements" (Compl. ¶6).

The anonymous poster, operating under the handle "@7hyejin," is accused of publishing posts that included 14 false plagiarism allegations, four claims that IU is a Chinese national acting as an agent of Chinese commercial interests, seven statements falsely asserting she lacks international popularity, seven posts accusing her of exploiting deceased celebrities for personal gain, nine posts alleging Communist-style censorship, and one post falsely linking her lyrics to national tragedies (Compl. ¶6).

"The Anonymous Poster published false statements that IU is a Chinese national acting as an agent of Chinese commercial interests," the application states (Compl. ¶6). Another post, viewed 5,900 times, allegedly included "false statements that IU exploited the deaths of celebrities... for personal marketing gain" (Compl. ¶6).

Prior Korean Judgment Undercuts Plagiarism Claims

The application highlights a prior Seoul Central District Court judgment dated December 18, 2024, which awarded IU 30 million KRW in damages for defamation based on plagiarism allegations—identical to those republished by "@7hyejin" in 14 posts between March 20 and October 1, 2025 (Compl. ¶6). The Korean court's ruling, which predates the Threads posts, found the plagiarism claims to be false and defamatory, directly contradicting the allegations republished by the anonymous poster.

IU's Netflix drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines, which premiered in March 2025, was also targeted by the anonymous poster. The application alleges that "@7hyejin" falsely claimed the drama had no overseas popularity, despite its global release. Specifically, seven posts published between March 23 and 24, 2025, falsely asserted that IU lacked international recognition (Compl. ¶6). These claims were further undermined by IU's overseas concert tour conducted in 2024, as detailed in the declaration of K. Paek, who provided evidence in support of the application (Paek Decl. ¶3).

On September 18, 2025, IU donated 200 million KRW to charity in celebration of her 17th debut anniversary, a fact that directly contradicts the Anonymous Poster’s allegations of exploitation for personal gain (Compl. ¶6). This charitable act was not mentioned in any of the defamatory posts, which instead accused IU of "go-in marketing"—a term referring to the exploitation of deceased celebrities for personal marketing gain (Compl. ¶6).

U.S. Judicial Assistance Sought as Only Feasible Path to Identity

The application argues that U.S. judicial assistance is the only feasible means to obtain the anonymous poster's identity, as the individual is outside the jurisdictional reach of the Korean court. Meta Platforms, Inc., whose principal place of business is in Menlo Park, California, is the sole entity capable of providing the requested information (Compl. ¶9). The application emphasizes that the Anonymous Poster’s use of Korean language, idioms, and culturally specific expressions strongly suggests they are a Korean citizen residing in Korea, further complicating efforts to identify them without U.S. judicial assistance (Compl. ¶4).

"Without the Anonymous Poster’s personally identifiable information (‘PII’), the Korean civil court case cannot proceed," the application states (Compl. ¶12). The requested discovery is narrowly tailored to include only non-content information, such as the user's name, date of birth, phone number(s), address, email address(es), and IP address logs from March 1, 2025, to the production date (Compl. ¶8, 14). The application asserts that "the requests are narrowly tailored, minimally intrusive, and not unduly burdensome," citing legal precedent such as Optiver Australia Pty. Ltd., In re Ex Parte Application of Akiko Isogai, and In re Med. Corp. H&S to support the limited scope of the subpoena (Compl. ¶8, 14).

The application cites precedent demonstrating the receptiveness of Korean tribunals to U.S. judicial assistance under § 1782, including cases such as In re Request for Jud. Assistance from Seoul Cent. Dist. Ct., No. 23-mc-80016-BLF, 2023 WL 2394545 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 7, 2023), and In re Request for Int’l Judicial Assistance from the Nat’l Court Admin. of the Republic of Korea, No. C15-80069 MISC LB, 2015 WL 1064790 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 11, 2015). It further cites Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241 (2004), for the proposition that "nonparticipants in the foreign proceeding may be outside the foreign tribunal’s jurisdictional reach; hence, their evidence, available in the United States, may be unobtainable absent § 1782(a) aid" (Compl. ¶9).

The application clarifies that it is purely for the purpose of identifying a defendant to be named in the civil matter in Korea. It also notes that Korean tribunals have a history of requesting and receiving such aid, and that no Korean laws or policies prevent U.S. courts from assisting IU in obtaining the Anonymous Poster’s identity (Compl. ¶10-11).

First Amendment and Stored Communications Act Considerations

The application addresses potential First Amendment and Stored Communications Act (SCA) concerns, arguing that the requested discovery does not violate either. The filing contends that the First Amendment does not bar disclosure of personally identifiable information for use in foreign defamation proceedings, particularly where the statements are alleged to be knowingly false and defamatory. "The First Amendment does not apply," the application states (Compl. ¶17). It further cites United States v. Google LLC, 690 F. Supp. 3d 1011 (N.D. Cal. 2023), for the proposition that "foreign citizens who are outside United States territory ... do not possess any rights under the United States Constitution" (Compl. ¶17).

The application also argues that the requested discovery is limited to non-content information, avoiding SCA conflicts. The subpoena seeks only the user's name, IP address logs, and other identifying information Meta maintains in the regular course of business, not the content of the Threads posts themselves. The filing cites prior district court rulings supporting subpoenas limited to non-content account information, including Optiver Australia Pty. Ltd., In re Ex Parte Application of Akiko Isogai, and In re Med. Corp. H&S (Compl. ¶8, 14).

Requested Relief and Next Steps

The application requests that the court grant the ex parte application and compel Meta to produce the following information for the Threads account "@7hyejin":

• Name
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Phone number(s)
• Address
• Email address(es)
• IP address logs and access logs from March 1, 2025, to the production date
• Any other identifying information Meta maintains in the regular course of business

The application specifies that no witness fees were tendered, as none are required under § 1782, stating that the fees tendered to the witness amount to $0.00 (Compl.). Production of the requested information is to be directed to Eugene Kim, attorney for the applicant, at the email address eugene.kim@streamkim.com or the physical address of Stream Kim Hicks Wrage & Alfaro, PC’s Riverside office (Compl. Exhibit A).

K. Paek, a declarant in support of the application, provided evidence detailing the timeline and impact of the defamatory posts, as well as IU’s professional and charitable activities that contradict the allegations made by the Anonymous Poster (Paek Decl. ¶3-7). The declaration underscores the necessity of the requested discovery to enable IU to proceed with her defamation lawsuit in Korea.

The allegations described here are taken from the filing and remain unproven; no responsive pleading is reflected in the source document.

David Brunk is a civil litigation attorney. He can be reached at david@newmanbrunk.com.