The investigation on allegation of vote manipulation on Mnet's Produce X 101 continues. Meanwhile, authorities also revealed the possible penalty that the people responsible for the program could face if proven guilty of the allegations.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) announced that they are carefully investigating the allegation against the reality show Produce X 101, which also produced the new group X1. The commission said they decided to hear opinions regarding the issue of voting rigging and manipulation.
KCSC pointed out that since deceiving the public is a grave offense, those that will be proven guilty of it will face heavy sanctions. Under Korea's Broadcast Act, heavy sanctions may include correction or suspension of the relevant broadcast program or disciplinary action against the person in charge or related to the broadcast program.
The commission said the show's network, Mnet, can also be ordered to pay a fine ranging from 10 million won ($8,490) to 30 million won ($25,470). The KCSC will make its final verdict on the case once the investigation is over.
The police are, currently, investigating the allegation on whether or not the producers of the show are involved in vote-rigging and manipulation in exchange for bribes. Since the investigation began, authorities have conducted multiple search and seizures to obtain evidence.
Earlier reports indicate that initial police investigation revealed that final rankings of some of the members who were voted into X1 and those who were eliminated were reversed. The cyber investigation team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reportedly found evidence that shows that some of the top 11 trainees received votes that were supposed to be for the other eliminated trainees. The police believe there are at least three members in the top 11 that were added into the final group because of vote manipulation.
After the finale of Produce X 101 in July, allegations of vote manipulation and rigging emerged. The accusation was that the voting results had been manipulated to change the final top 20 rankings. From the top 20 participants, the top 11 went on to debut as X1.
The 11-member group released their debut album Emergency: Quantum Leap along with its title song "Flash" on August 27 amidst the scandal. X1 made their Billboard chart debut on Social 50 and Emerging Artists at No. 6 and No. 11, respectively. This makes the group as the first Korean act to land a spot on Billboard Social 50 before the debut.
