On July 19, T1 sued malicious commenters who wrote offensive posts targeting Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. T1 held a press conference at the Jongno Police Station in Seoul and released a statement about the circumstances in which the complaint was made.
After that, the T1 legal team and Apex lawyers who responded to the reporters’ questions and answers said they could not see the malicious commenters who continued to post malicious insults despite multiple warnings, and said that this contained Faker’s will.
In addition, T1 announced that it had established a legal organization within the game team this year to protect players. In addition, he emphasized that the level of insults increased when T1 finished runner-up at the MSI held in May, and that he will take hard measures against malicious commenters through continuous monitoring in the future.
Below is the full QA
Q. How many people are sued?
A. To be specific, it is difficult to say because the case is ongoing, and it can be regarded as a small number of people. We filed a complaint against habitual or high-level malicious commenters. In addition, in the process of monitoring the community, it was found that insulting posts habitually written by a small number of malicious users accounted for a significant proportion of the total posts.
Q. What level of insult was the subject of the complaint?
A. To use an analogy, there were comments about Faker that were unspoken or insulting the player’s mother. In the case of some of the defendants, they repeatedly insulted Faker despite the game team’s warning.
Q. Are you currently being sued only for insults?
A. Yes.
Q. Are there any other players who are pursuing lawsuits besides Faker?
A. We are currently in the process of filing a complaint against coach Kim Ji-hwan, and we will proceed if it is determined that legal action is necessary against other members in the future.
Q. Is there a reason for taking hard measures without agreement or leniency?
A. This is because he continued to spread malicious content and continued to insult him despite being warned several times by the game team. The position of Faker and the game team is that it would be desirable to punish them.
Q. It is a known fact that T1 will take tough measures against malicious commenters. But is there any special reason to proceed with the lawsuit at this time?
A. In order to strengthen our team’s response to such issues this year, a separate legal organization was established. After the MSI finals, the level of insulting posts has risen a lot, so we decided to take a hard line.
Q. How much punishment will be given once the judgment is finalized?
A. Most offenses are punishable by a fine, but in the case of malicious or persistent insults, a prison sentence is also possible. Most of the fines are between 1 million won and 2 million won, but this time the sentence is expected to be higher because it is a malicious and persistent insult.
Q. After this criminal complaint, do you have any plans to continue with civil affairs?
A. For now, only criminal charges are being considered. After that, if further action is necessary, we will discuss it.
Q. After the news of the accusation spread, have there been any malicious commenters who contacted the game team and asked for mercy?
A. The moderators have sent us an apology regarding Faker’s anti-community. In the case of an insult against Faker, no one asked for leniency because it was the first time the case was being filed.
Q. I understand that the community has an obligation to delete malicious posts. Do you have any plans to take legal action in this regard?
A. The community is responding well to our request for cooperation in deleting posts, so there is no concern about that.
Q. How does the identification of the accused for the offense proceed?
A. This is a case in which it is judged that the current defendants can be specified to some extent. These were the people who could be identified within the site.
Q. At kt Rolster, there was an extreme case of a box containing a weapon being delivered, but was there such a thing on the T1 side?
A. There was no such extreme case in our game team. However, as CEO Joe Marsh posted on social media, I agree that such a thing shouldn’t happen.