July 24, 2026 Recommendations, etc. Concerning Violations of the Publication Obligations Stipulated in Article 28 of the Information Distribution Platform Act

　The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) issued recommendations pursuant to Article 30, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Measures Against Rights Infringement, etc. Arising from Distribution of Information by Specified Telecommunications (Act No. 137 of 2001; hereinafter referred to as the “Information Distribution Platform Act,” or the “Act”) and conducted Collection of Reports pursuant to Article 29 of the Act with regard to violations of the public announcement obligations stipulated in Article 28 of the Act by the following five entities: Google LLC (Person of Performance of Duty: Kathryn W. Hall) and X Corp. (Executive Chairman: Elon Reeve Musk); and Meta Platforms, Inc. (Chairman and CEO: Mark Zuckerberg), Shonan Seibu Home Co., Ltd. (Representative Director: Shinji Onishi), and DWANGO Co., Ltd. (President: Takeshi Natsuno).

Note: The published materials are available in Japanese only.

1　 Background, etc.

　Article 28 of the Act stipulates that large-scale specified telecommunications service providers are obligated to publicly announce once every year the status of implementation of measures to prevent transmission, etc., in order to ensure transparency for users and enable verification from outside the providers, and that the specific information to be published is prescribed in the same Article and the Regulation for Enforcement of the Act on Measures Against Rights Infringement, etc. Arising from Distribution of Information by Specified Telecommunications (MIC Ordinance No. 39 of 2022).

　After reviewing the materials published by large-scale specified telecommunications service providers by May 31, 2026, pursuant to Article 28 of the Act, concerning the status of implementation of measures to prevent transmission, etc. in FY2025 (hereinafter referred to as the “FY2025 published materials”), MIC conducted Collection of Reports dated June 4 (SOJOTEKI No. 24) pursuant to Article 29 of the Act with respect to some of the providers. Upon reviewing the contents of the reports submitted in response, MIC found that the following providers had failed to publish all or some of the information required to be published under the respective items of Article 28 of the Act and that such failure constituted violations of the provisions of that Article.

2　 Implementation of Recommendations and Collection of Reports

　MIC issued recommendations to the following providers pursuant to Article 30, Paragraph 1 of the Act and conducted Collection of Reports pursuant to Article 29 of the Act.

Response to Google LLC and X Corp.

• (1) Recommendations
  　With regard to the FY2025 published materials, make the necessary corrections to remedy the violations of Article 28 of the Act and, by August 31, 2026, republish the corrected FY2025 published materials, clearly indicating the corrected portions, and promptly report, after the republication, that the republication has been completed.
  　If it is technically difficult to correct the FY2025 published materials, promptly take the necessary measures to ensure that all information required to be published under the respective items of Article 28 of the Act is published in the materials concerning the status of implementation of measures to prevent transmission, etc. for FY2026, which are required to be published by May 31, 2027 pursuant to Article 28 of the Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FY2026 published materials”), and in the published materials for subsequent fiscal years.
• (2) Report items
  • ①　By August 31, 2026, report, in a document written in Japanese, an improvement plan that specifically and clearly includes the following matters:
    • ○　Measures necessary to ensure the publication of all information required to be published
      under the respective items of Article 28 of the Act in the FY2026 published materials and the published materials for subsequent fiscal years
    • ○　The schedule for implementing such measures
  • ②　Report on the progress of the improvement plan in ① in a document written in Japanese by October 30, 2026. In addition, in order to ensure the appropriate publication of the FY2026 published materials and the published materials for subsequent fiscal years, report on subsequent progress in the same manner every three months through April 30, 2027, in a document written in Japanese.

Response to Meta Platforms, Inc., Shonan Seibu Home Co., Ltd., and DWANGO Co., Ltd.

• (1) Recommendations
  　With regard to the FY2025 published materials, make the necessary corrections to remedy the violations of Article 28 of the Act and, by August 31, 2026, republish the corrected FY2025 published materials, clearly indicating the corrected portions, and promptly report, after the republication, that the republication has been completed.
  　If it is technically difficult to correct the FY2025 published materials, promptly take the necessary measures, based on the improvement policy presented in the report submitted in response to the Collection of Report dated June 4 pursuant to Article 29 of the Act, to ensure that all information required to be published under the respective items of Article 28 of the Act is published in the FY2026 published materials and the published materials for subsequent fiscal years.
• (2) Report items
  Report, in a document written in Japanese, on the status of implementation of the measures based on the above improvement policy by October 30, 2026. In addition, in order to ensure the appropriate publication of the FY2026 published materials and the published materials for subsequent fiscal years, report on the status of implementation thereafter in the same manner every three months through April 30, 2027, in a document written in Japanese.