IU is expanding her legal battle against online defamation by asking a U.S. federal court to help her identify an anonymous social media user accused of spreading false information about her.
The singer and actress filed a request seeking subscriber information from Meta, Threads’ parent company, as part of an ongoing civil defamation case in South Korea.
IU’s legal team filed the request on July 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, reported July 20.
The request aims to obtain the information needed to identify the person behind a Threads account and gather evidence for the lawsuit currently underway in South Korea.
The request was made under 28 USC § 1782, a US law that allows courts to order companies or individuals in their jurisdiction to provide evidence for legal proceedings in another country, AllKPop reported.
This process has been used by South Korean celebrities seeking information on anonymous users on global online platforms.
The IU party identified a Threads account using the username “@7hy*jin,” listed as Person A in the document, as the recipient of the request.
Her representatives said the account posted and shared 52 false and malicious posts in a seven-month period from March to October 2025. They said the posts caused serious damage to IU’s reputation and public image.
IU has filed a petition in a US court asking Meta to reveal the identity of the Threads @:7h* account suspected of making 52 defamatory posts about her from March to October last year.
Since the identity of the account owner is still unknown, the UI part requests… pic.twitter.com/Z8ugnU4EGg
— Lateefah🎀 (@queenylateefah) July 20, 2026
UI searches for metauser details
Since the identity of the account holder remains unknown, IU’s legal team said it was difficult to pursue the defamation case in South Korea.
According to ChosunBiz, the request asks Meta to provide subscriber details linked to the account, including the user’s name, address, phone number, email address and IP records.
The alleged posts covered several categories, including repeated accusations of plagiarism, false claims about IU’s ties to China, attacks on her international popularity, accusations involving deceased celebrities, accusations of media manipulation and statements linking her songs to national tragedies.
IU representatives pointed out that some plagiarism allegations had already been addressed by a South Korean court in 2024. The previous case ended with a compensation judgment of 30 million KRW (about $22,000) against the person responsible for spreading such allegations.
The legal team also argued that the account shared false information about IU’s background, charitable activities and global achievements. They presented international performance records and streaming data to dispute claims that attempted to diminish his success overseas.
The IU agency maintained a rigorous approach to harmful online posts and continued to pursue legal action against those responsible.
By February, its legal team had filed criminal complaints and civil actions against 96 people accused of posting harmful content.
One defendant was sentenced in May to four months in prison, suspended for one year, after losing his appeal over repeated offensive posts on the UI.
