The new year has arrived, bringing both the promise of improvement and the remnants of the mess left behind from the prior year.
Unfortunately, with the turmoil of the outside world seeping into our microcosm, the ARMYverse is no exception. Recently, for example, a portion of the community protested Jimin’s treatment from netizens and Big Hit’s alleged lack of response to it; their protest has even made the news, one example being this article from the International Business Times. It has caused a hurricane of reactions on Twitter from both those in support of the protesting actions and those calling for the protests to end.
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ARMYs on social media are no stranger to internal strife within the fandom, and this is not the first time that the negative treatment of the group — both suspected and confirmed — has been the cause of it. Each of the members has, at one point or another, been the victim of cyberbullying — Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook have been theorized to take extended breaks from social media as a result of negative treatment, and the members have commented on how it affected them in the past. The limelight is very bright as it shines on BTS, and that bright limelight attracts all sorts of attention; none of the members have completely escaped the negative aspects.
Because of this, the instinct to defend them from such behavior and to want Big Hit to do everything in their power to protect them is not unfounded. In fact, the instinct often rises in all of us; when we see our boys hurting in some way, we want to stop that hurt. No one wants someone they care about to be in pain. And if there’s one thing that ARMY cares about, it’s BTS.
This should go without saying, but let it be clear: bullying is never acceptable under any circumstances. The fact that BTS are superstars and are very much in the public eye does not give anyone the right to bully them or treat them with less respect than they would expect to receive themselves. Haters, otherwise known as antis, are an extremely regrettable reality, regardless of how they come to exist. We, in our small circles as ARMY with a few hundred or maybe a few thousand followers, can even be subject to cyberbullying. Imagine how many more hateful comments we could potentially receive when that number of followers is multiplied to millions of people that are fully capable of scrutinizing our actions. Conceptually, this is terrifying.
The reality of it, however, is even more horrifying. Cyberbullying has become such a pervasive, insidious problem that countries have now begun passing legislation in an attempt to put a halt to it. In 2019, the K-pop world was shaken by the passing of female artist Sulli, whose suicide sparked the South Korean government to draw up anti-cyberbullying laws, as detailed in an article from the Telegraph, to try to prevent the kind of harassment and hateful treatment that had afflicted her and others with pain.
This sort of weight is difficult to bear, both for people who have experienced it on any level and for those who were forced to watch it from the sidelines. It’s difficult not to feel helpless in these trying moments while yearning for action to be taken. However, if we take it as fact that hate comments are akin to an unrelenting storm, what can we do to weather it?
In the case of this most recent incident of Jimin’s alleged harassment, which has hit news sites, it’s important to put Big Hit’s response (or alleged lack of response) into context. While there may be anti-cyberbullying laws in existence, legal processes are all similar worldwide in that they are not typically fast-working. Pursuing those who have committed acts of harassment, cyberbullying, or other malicious speech takes time, especially with the added fact of these acts being committed online. Finding enough evidence and tracing the identity of the perpetrator is not going to be as easy as we might hope.
Big Hit, however, has remained dedicated to pursuing anyone who comes after BTS — in fact, just one month ago, on Dec. 30, 2020, they released a statement via Weverse indicating that they will continue to take action against the malicious netizens who target their groups, both BTS and TXT. Specifically, they state:
“We have recently filed additional criminal complaints using new information provided by fans as well as collected through our monitoring activities. These include perpetrators who have previously been found guilty and sentenced to fines, as well as individuals who are presumed to be engaged in malicious activities even while being under investigation after we have filed criminal complaints against them. For these individuals, we will initiate legal proceedings against them until their malicious behaviors stop completely.”
On the downside, doesn’t this level of communication present part of the problem? We, as ARMY, have a certain expectation of Big Hit due to several factors: their founding principles are inherently different from other agencies; they’re very open with fans about their business workings; and they allow the members of BTS more freedom to pursue other projects outside of their work with the company, which is also something of an anomaly in the K-pop world. High expectations can sometimes create even higher expectations... so, is it possible that we’re setting the bar higher and higher for Big Hit due to their openness and apparent generosity towards their groups?
At this point, let’s take a step back and look at what we know of Big Hit. When compared with other agencies in the K-pop business, Big Hit is actually very communicative about its inner workings. Their posts about their legal proceedings are perhaps the most prominent example; these briefings may not have all the information we might like to have as fans, but that isn’t surprising — legally, there’s only so much that they can reveal about ongoing investigations to prevent the cases from being compromised. We’re still getting information, which is a lot more than can be said of other agencies and the fans of their groups. With their most recently-stated intention of continuing to take the measures that they can until the negative behaviors “stop completely,” it’s hard to argue that they aren’t trying to do what is best for their groups.
If we take all this information into account, Big Hit is still leaps and bounds above the rest of the supposed “Big Three” agencies, which are its competitors in the market. Reviewing all the facts we do have regarding their actions towards malicious netizens (or other malicious entities) helps to put the situation into perspective.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly: BTS themselves have never expressed frustrations with Big Hit. They have, instead, repeatedly asked something of us: trust them. Cast your minds back to early 2019, when Namjoon did a livestream in his new studio. He said to ARMY, “Please trust us. Please trust us a little more.”
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As fans of BTS, we are rewarded with a beautiful relationship between us and the members of the group, touching in its depth, uniqueness, and sincerity. A relationship like this, as odd as it may seem to an outsider, can only be built on a foundation of trust. So, if we take it as fact that we trust BTS when they say that they appreciate ARMY, when they say that they believe we should love ourselves, when they say that they want to make us feel even one percent better with their music — should we not trust them when they ask us specifically to put our faith in them?
Don’t we already trust them? And if we already trust them, shouldn’t we continue to do so?
Negativity of any type can be overwhelming, especially when it concerns something that’s important to us. Helplessness to act can then breed frustration, letting unknowns take control. Questions arise: are things the way that they seem? Could there be something horribly wrong? When that happens, it’s hard to know what to do, so there’s really only one thing you can do: put your faith in the facts you have. Take a step back. Take a deep breath. Reevaluate. Remember, first and foremost, what BTS has done for you and what they’ve asked of you in return.
Find your strength in BTS, and no matter how strong the storm, you can weather it.
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Written by: Anna Moon
Edited by: Esma
Checked by: Vera