Netizen claiming to be T-ara’s backdancer detained for defamation of character

The netizen who claimed to beT-ara‘s formerbackdancer earlier this yearand fanned the flames of alleged bullying within the group has been detained at Gangnam police station.

The Gangnam police station’s cyber crime team announced that “netizen A”, who allegedly wrote thatJiyeonslappedHwayoungfor a small mistake during practice, is being accused for defamation of character. However, netizen A is claiming that he simply spread the rumor, and that he was not the writer of the original post.

A representative from the police station stated,“After [rumors of] Hwayoung being bullied came out, the news spread instantly, and because the original post was deleted, it took a long time [to investigate]. We were unable to find the originator of the post. Because it’s still an ongoing investigation, we can’t reveal any more details.”

The cyber crime team explained,“Whether the statements by the person who misrepresented himself as T-ara’s backdancer are fact or fiction, because the statements could have had made [the group's] image suffer, it’s possible that maliciously spreading the post could be considered defamation of character.”