On October 17, SM Entertainment released an official statement regarding the stern legal action taken against malicious commenters and rumor spreaders of RIIZE.

The label explained, "We would like to inform you about the progress of our legal actions regarding rights violations related to our artists RIIZE (Shotaro, Eunsuk, Seongchan, Wonbin, Sohee, Anton)." 

SM Entertainment elaborated, "So far, we have been collecting malicious posts and comments that include threats, defamation, and insults against the RIIZE members through reports from fans and our own monitoring. We are focusing on filing lawsuits against individuals who continuously spread false information on specific platforms."

In particular, SM Entertainment revealed that some rumors spreaders have already been sent to prosecution. The company shared, "We would like to inform you that some individuals, who impersonated acquaintances of RIIZE members on Instagram and wrote false information, as well as those whose illegal activities have been confirmed, have been referred to the prosecution with specific charges.

We are responding firmly according to our principles, and we will provide updates on the progress of these cases in the future."

SM Entertainment promised to continue taking strong legal action against those posting malicious content about RIIZE on various social media platforms. Korean netizens and fans were relieved to hear that SM Entertainment has taken legal action against the rumor spreaders but expressed concerns about those overseas.

They commented:

"Good. Very good."

"But what about the foreign malicious comments and rumor spreaders?"

"I wish they could send foreigners overseas to prosecution."

"No leniency for them."

"There are still a lot more malicious commenters that need to be sued."

"SM's doing a good job."

"We always support these kinds of legal actions."

"Is there a way to go after the ones overseas?"

"There are more crazy ones overseas though."

"Good."

"I hope they don't just leave this as a warning."

"I wish all the rumor spreaders are caught soon."

"Let's take this all the way, don't be lenient."

"But I think most of the malicious comments are about the member that left..."

"I'm hoping to hear some good news."

SEE ALSO: Popular international RIIZE fan account shuts down