A South Korean court has ruled that online insults directed at a K-pop band can be considered defamation.

Except, this boy band doesn’t technically exist. PLAVE consists of five men in their 20s with brightly coloured hair who are completely virtual.

Yejun, Noah, Bamby, Eunho, and Hamin are digital avatars designed in the style of manhwa, the term for Korean comics and webtoons.

The real identities of the band members are unknown and they use motion capture technology to perform, chat with fans and accept music awards.

A K-pop fan website even lists each PLAVE member’s birthday, height, hobbies, likes, dislikes, personality type and ‘representative emoji’.

On July 19 last year, a social media user said the people behind the avatars could be ‘ugly in real life’ and said they have a ‘typical Korean man vibe’.

The X user ridiculed Hamin, saying he is ‘not tall or handsome’ and has a’rotten’ body, so he has to ‘hide behind’ his avatar, according to court documents.

In a sixth post on July 26, he called the band ‘bastards’.

PLAVE – as in, the people, not the avatars – filed a lawsuit against the user, saying the remarks caused them emotional distress and sought 6.5 million won each (about £3,400).

The defendant, named in court documents as ‘B’, said that as the group is made of fictional characters, their comments don’t count as defamation.

But a court in Gyeonggi ruled in favour of the band in May, saying that to insult an avatar is to insult the person behind it.

The verdict added: ‘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 real identities of PLAVE have ‘become information readily available to the masses’, the judgment said, with tabloid journalists and message board users regularly claiming to have tracked them down.

‘When considering the fact that B also committed the offences in question with that information in mind, it must be concluded that B specifically targeted the plaintiffs,’ the ruling added.

The defendant was ordered to pay 100,000 won per plaintiff, having dismissed some of the band’s claims.

The judgment was confirmed in a court bulletin notice last week.

The ‘virtual entertainment company’ behind the band, VLAST, warned in a statement last March that it would take legal action against people who comment on the band’s true identities.

It added: ‘Our findings revealed that around 20,000 reported cases and proofs were discovered by VLAST and fans. There are also approximately 30 incidents deemed for trial since November 2023.’

But whether a ruling of this kind could happen in the UK is doubtful, Iain Wilson, libel lawyer and managing partner of the London firm Brett Wilson, told Metro.

‘While in the UK a fictional character could not bring a legal claim, a performer might, if the attack was understood by some of the readership to be against them rather than the character,’ he said.

‘However, on the reported facts of the PLAVE case, a UK defamation claim would likely fail. Recourse to English defamation law only applies if there is a likelihood of serious reputational harm. Insults or abuse, however hurtful, are insufficient.’

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New AI smart glasses controlled by ‘brain signals’ have been unveiled by Meta.

A ‘Neural Band’ can detect electrical impulses in the forearm, allowing tiny hand gestures to control the built-in screen on the lens.

Users will be able to see AI generated images and video with the glasses, called Meta Ray-Ban Display, and make use of a camera, speakers and microphone.

The new technology is one step towards CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of achieving ‘personal superintelligence’.

The new Ray-Ban Display will project a phone-like interface on the right lens, allowing users to see texts, photos and make live phone calls.

But whatever you’re looking at won’t be visible from the outside.

An LED light on the frame will alert others when the camera on the glasses is active.

Other things the technology will be able to do include provide captions and translations for live conversations and give walking directions.

However these glasses will replace the keyboard and mouse with signals from the brain.

In what Zuckerberg labelled a ‘huge scientific breakthrough’, little muscle movements will be picked up by the company’s Neural Band to control the glasses.

The water-resistant bracelet will detect tiny movements such as pinches, swipes and taps.

The glasses use electromyography (EMG) to register signals sent between your brain and your hand when performing a gesture.

Handwriting will also be possible later this year.

AI will also play a big role in the new product, with Meta’s AI chatbot able to answer questions and show pictures through the Ray-Ban Display.

The new wearable devices will be priced at $799 (£585) and be available from September 30 in the US.

They’ll hit stores in the UK, France, Italy and Canada in early 2026.

They are not the only new piece of tech announced by Meta.

The trillion-dollar company also unveiled a set of Oakly smart glasses designed for sport.

The 66g-heavy Oakley Meta Vanguard will offer a camera, nose piece, speakers and AI tech to be used while exercising.

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