Template - India

Subject: Urgent Appeal: A Call For Accountability And Ethical Indian Journalism

Dear Indian and International Committee,

We are writing to highlight a grave issue concerning the false articles being published across multiple outlets in major news portals of India regarding BTS member SUGA’s DUI incident that happened on 6th August 2024.

The behaviour of these media outlets corresponds to the open bullying nature and unethical practices of Korean media that have released multiple false claims to influence public perceptions without fact-checking, which the Indian media has cited as “reliable sources” disregarding the essence of true journalistic practice, and have spread wrong information to the public at large.

Min Yoongi, commonly known as SUGA of BTS, was involved in an incident where he drove an e-scooter while intoxicated. He was fined and had his driving permit revoked. Despite this being the only factual information available, the media portals including reputable portals like Times Of India, Hindustan Times, MoneyControl, Pinkvilla and more have produced innumerable articles filled with speculation, baseless claims, and clickbaity headlines designed to sensationalise the story.

Please find details of what was reported vs what was the actual truth below:

Media portals like English Jagran reported that SUGA was to be removed from the band: However, this is a blatant lie. BigHit themselves made a statement that extreme measures like “Suga Leaving the group” was “nonsense” and wasn’t being considered - Which, factual information officially from SUGA’s label has not been reported anywhere. (Attaching proof below)

SUGA’s False CCTV Footage, Blood Alcohol level and discrepencies in the story:

Many portals including, MSN had reported without fact checking that SUGA was caught in a certain footage with his blood alcohol level being 0.227%

However, since then, the portals including JTBC, Yonhap news have since come forward and accepted that the cctv footage they spread wasn’t Yoongi and new footage was revealed to be Yoongi which aligned with the claims he and BIGHIT made in their statements namely: he was in fact riding kickboard (as wrongly claimed that he was riding motorcycle at a high speed in the falsely accused footage, he was closer to his house - 500 meters, and he fell in front of his gate towards the turn)

JTBC, Korea Now (english subsidiary of Yonhap) have since apologised for their misinformation and maligning image of the artist. However, the Indian news portals claiming to spread only ethical and true news have not apologised or covered the new piece of information in a dignified manner

Furthermore, the blood alcohol level reported by portals Live Mint has also been not confirmed by the police or any other reliable sources and is just a speculated circulation which journalists in good faith wouldn’t be spreading unless their aim was to bank for unethical views at the expense of an Artist’s mental health. Please find below an excerpt of the article that holds comments from the police authorities who have NOT CONFIRMED the artist’s BAC level as reported by many of our portals. The punishment has also not been confirmed and “Reddit”, “KoreaBoo” which is known for notoriously bullying artists are not considered reliable sources as quoted by the portal.

Another portal Pinkvilla, Times Of India also reported wrongful news that Yoongi was too drunk to coordinate however, the officials have said otherwise. Please find the screenshot below.

Claims of Yoongi’s misconduct during the military service:

Another widespread false accusation published by several reputed media portals including Money Control, indian express, Times Now, Hindustan Times, NDTV falsely reported that Yoongi acted as a classroom bully during his military service. It has since then been debunked that there is no truth to this, and the rumour has been spread to malign the artist’s image - As several people came out and talked about the kindness of yoongi during his ongoing military service both in the past and post the incident came to light (please find screenshots attached below)

As these portals pick opinions from Twitter primarily, it’s surprising they only picked negative opinions and created multiple articles on them and didn’t create articles on the truth that was in support of the artist.

Regarding SUGA challenge:

Many media portals including HT, Times Now , Republic, reported that SUGA challenge was done by the fans in order to make light of the situation in which the artist was involved in. However, the challenge was NOT DONE by the artist’s fans but was a well plotted strategy executed by anti fans to malign not just the artist’s but the fandom’s image too. When the truth came out, only one Indian media portal, Desi Martini, reported this, and none of these big media portals reported the same.

Similarly, the wreaths being sent was also done by anti fans, which again wasnt reported by the “ethical” media of our country but portrayed that fans wanted him out of the group. None of the fans desire this and the proof of it is plastered across twitter, weverse and instagram where fans reside. Pinkvilla reported otherwise.

South Korean law prohibits the release of details about criminal investigations before a public indictment. Yet, it appears that such information is accessible to reporters without official statements from the police, the same is being picked up by the Indian media without fact checking and research and is being bluntly reported causing damage to the artist’s reputation and mental wellbeing.

As we know India is a senstive country, grappling with its own issues, one of it is widespread media manipulation, showcasing only on the negatives and not so much on the positive, because sensationalism is what sells.

The media’s role in normalising and perpetuating this behavior can result in tragic consequences with immense damage to mental and physical wellbeing of not just fans but the artist.

The focus seems to be on spreading misinformation and lies, presented as facts, to manipulate public opinion. By the time the truth is revealed and confirmed by authorities, the public’s perception has already been skewed by false narratives. This appears an unresearched, unthoughtful and harmful practice by the Indian media.

This cycle must be stopped. Civilians and genuine journalism need protection.

In light of your mandate to oppose discrimination and condemn the misuse of media for propaganda and intolerance, we strongly urge you to investigate the portals, and urge them to take action towards the right not just the clickbaity.

Your actions are desired in this critical and sensitive situation to ensure that ethical journalists can work based on facts and truth.

International law, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, outlines journalists' duties and rights concerning ethics. We request that you hold these portals and the journalists accountable for their conduct.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely,