Some of the information in this article is based on reporting by Newsworker.
T1 and the agencies representing several of their players have launched a coordinated series of legal actions and public statements against ongoing online harassment and privacy violations targeting their roster.
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Much of the harassment targeting Gumayusi originated from a South Korean online community known as the "T1 Support Minor Gallery." What began as criticism over his champion pool eventually escalated into coordinated attacks. The community is notorious for organising real-world demonstrations outside T1's headquarters, including sending buses plastered with negative messages and, last year, funeral wreaths directed at specific players. Conspiracy theories also spread, alleging that Gumayusi was receiving preferential treatment due to the management's alleged religious affiliations — a so-called "Christian cartel" — claims that were entirely unfounded.
This form of blind cyberbullying did not stop even after Gumayusi left T1 to join Hanwha Life Esports ahead of the 2026 season. Despite no longer being part of the roster, he continues to be targeted by the same community.
After both Gumayusi and Shin "Smash" Geum-jae — whose promotion had been pushed by members of the community as a way to undermine Gumayusi — left the team, attention shifted to jungler Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun. When T1's performance fell short of expectations early in the 2026 season, some users placed the blame on Oner. When academy jungler Kim "Painter" Eun-hoo showed strong performances in CL matches, the same playbook was deployed once again, with calls for his promotion used to pressure Oner.
During this process, numerous personal attacks and insulting remarks were directed at Oner. Beyond claims that he lacked game intelligence, maliciously edited images were also circulated. The comment section of Oner's personal YouTube channel, "Comehere_ONER," was flooded with abusive messages, eventually leading to its disabling.
Recognizing the severity of the situation, Oner's agency, Key Player Agency (KPA), announced on April 7 that it had formally filed criminal complaints against malicious commenters through its legal representative, Law Office Beopjeong. KPA stated that the posts had caused serious psychological harm to Oner and his family, and pledged to hold perpetrators accountable under both civil and criminal law. As a result of the dual complaints, some individuals are reportedly now facing separate lawsuits from both FANABLE and KPA simultaneously.
Beyond online abuse, T1 also moved to address physical privacy violations. On April 15, the organisation published a statement confirming multiple recorded instances of players being filmed without consent — including outside their team house and on the way to T1's headquarters. T1 described time spent outside of official schedules as a player's private domain and warned that further violations would result in legal action.
The following day, on April 16, T1 issued a second statement focused specifically on online behaviour, and simultaneously shared a dedicated reporting page on their official website. The organisation confirmed it is actively monitoring 23 communities in partnership with specialised firms, while also inviting fans to submit reports of malicious content directly. The volume of content being reviewed reaches approximately 40,000 posts and comments per day — a figure that climbs even higher during international competitions. T1 stated that severe or repeated offences would be met with formal legal proceedings.
The situation has also caught the attention of lawmakers recently. On December 14, South Korean politician Jeon Yong-gi proposed a revision to the Court Organization Act, aiming to significantly increase financial compensation for victims of cyberbullying. While the bill is broader in scope, Jeon explicitly cited the T1 Gallery as a direct example of the problem, labelling their behaviour as "terrorism." The proposal was driven in part by a striking statistic: between 2019 and 2023, 71.4% of damages awarded in defamation cases amounted to less than ten million won, a sum widely considered too low to deter bad actors.
With agencies, organisations, and legislators all moving in the same direction, this moment is shaping up to be a landmark one for player protection in the LCK — and a warning to those who believed online anonymity would shield them from consequences.
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