League of Legends star Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok with his team T1 has filed criminal lawsuits against multiple anonymous individuals who have been continuously harassing Faker for some time now.
These lawsuits were filed in response to an unnamed LoL fan creating a community page in the top SoKor internet forum DCInside for the sole purpose of harassing and disparaging Faker; several other lawsuits were also filed for other unnamed users.
With its unquestionable performance during the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI 2022), especially their odd draft that led to a terrible upset, T1 received numerous disdainful comments from a disappointed League of Legends community in Korea.
Watch this report about the lawsuit here:
Things only got worst when these fans started targeting the players, especially Faker. Toxic fans started spreading foul insults online that went worse and more frequently. These individuals even went to the extent of pronouncing vulgar comments about Faker's own family and sharing unspeakably insulting drawings. Whatever comments that these individuals posted, it is surely extreme to force Faker to push for sanctions.
In retaliation, T1 has already ordered for the said posts to be taken down, as well as gathered some important files to build a strong defamation case against these individuals.
This is not the first time we hear about fans acting rude to gaming stars and personalities. Flaming can be strongly observed in almost any online game forum. It is just most of the time, these people do not face certain consequences.
As an LoL icon, Faker has been enduring this type of treatment from some fans since 2015. Along with his rise to fame came attacks from toxic fans.
It is actually odd that it is just now that the star finally does something to address this worsening case of really rabid haters. Maybe the real 'unkillable demon king' has finally awakened after years of insults and maltreatment from fans.
Also read: Infamous Destiny 2 Troll Finally Sued By Bungie For Threatening Company Employees
In an interview, here is what the T1 legal team has to say: "With respect to Faker's opinion on this matter, we are filing criminal lawsuits only towards those that repeatedly and habitually left such malicious comments, as he felt that these individuals need to be severely sanctioned. As such, there will be no plea nor favourable arrangement deals."
In Korea, sanctions for the Insult Law can range from a fine of $760 to $1,520 and even a considerable amount of jail time for some cases. But according to Faker's legal team, these individuals can face more severe punishment as what they have done is considered 'harsher' and 'very malicious', considering they have been doing this for an extended period of time, they can only expect the worse.
With these developments, we can only expect some changes as to how fans should act in online forums. This event should be a lesson to every fan to distinguish between criticism and abuse.
