K-hip-hop star Jay Park is asking a U.S. court to force Google to unmask an anonymous YouTube user so he can sue in Korean court, citing allegedly defamatory internet videos linking him to drug traffickers and disparaging Korean-Americans.

Attorneys for the American-born Park say a YouTube account transliterated as Bburingsamuso has subjected the artist to a “malicious” campaign of videos, including one claiming he works with Chinese mobsters to import drugs and another suggesting Korean-Americans like Park “exploit” the country with illegal activities.

Park’s lawyers have already filed a defamation lawsuit in Korea, but in a petition filed Thursday (Jan. 9) in California federal court, they say that the foreign lawsuit “cannot proceed” without a U.S. subpoena forcing Google to hand over the user’s identity.

“The defamatory statements falsely accuse Jay Park of being involved with organized crime, drug trafficking, and unethical conduct, all of which have caused significant harm to his reputation and professional endeavors,” the singer’s attorneys write. “Despite extensive efforts to identify the anonymous YouTuber through publicly available information, Jay Park has been unsuccessful to date. Consequently, Jay Park now seeks the assistance of this court.”

Google could legally object to such a request, including by potentially arguing that the subpoena would violate the First Amendment and its protections for anonymous speech. But Park’s attorneys say the U.S. Constitution simply doesn’t apply since they “strongly” believe the poster lives in Korea.

“Jay Park is not attempting to infringe on the anonymous YouTuber’s First Amendment rights because the anonymous YouTuber appears to be a citizen of Southern Korea,” the filing says. Park’s lawyers cite an earlier precedent that says U.S. legal protection for free speech “doesn’t reflect a U.S. policy of protecting free speech around the world.”

As K-pop and other Korean music have exploded in global popularity over the past decade — and with it an intensely enthusiastic online fan culture — numerous stars have turned to Korea’s strict defamation laws to fight back against what they say are false statements about them on the internet.

In 2019, HYBE (then Big Hit Entertainment) filed criminal cases alleging “personal attacks” on the superstar band BTS. In 2022, Big Hit did so again over “malicious postings” about BTS, even asking the group’s famous fan “army” to help gather evidence. YG Entertainment, the label behind BLACKPINK, has also filed its own complaint against “internet trolls,” accusing them of “spreading groundless rumours about our singers.”

It’s also not the first time such litigants have turned to the U.S. courts to help. In March, the K-pop group NewJeans filed a similar petition in California federal court, seeking to unmask a YouTube user so that the band could press for criminal charges in Korea over “derogatory” videos.

In that case — filed by the same lawyer who represents Park in his case filed this week — a judge eventually granted the subpoena. But it’s unclear from court records the extent to which Google has complied with it.

A Google spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Park’s petition. But in a policy statement regarding government requests for personal information, the company says: “Google carefully reviews each request to make sure it satisfies applicable laws. If a request asks for too much information, we try to narrow it, and in some cases we object to producing any information at all.”