South Korea has seen a boom in the popularity of so-called “virtual idols”, whose real identities and appearances are unknown as they interact with the public purely through a digital representation.

One group of five virtual idols brought proceedings against a person who posted a derogatory comment about their avatars on X in July 2024.

The defendant argued that the comments were directed at fictional characters, not the real people behind them.

However, the court ruled that “the avatar in the era of the metaverse is more than a virtual image, but a way of expression of the user, one’s identity and one’s way of communicating with society”, The Korea Herald reports.

The Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Court in Gyeonggi Province ordered the defendant to pay 100,000 won per person — around €305 or £265 in total.