Fantia Retracts New 2D Content Guidelines After Police Clarification
The retraction shows that Fantia's initial overreaction to police guidance, applying it to all content without verification, created a crisis of trust among creators that the platform now must repair.
Reporting from 2 sources: Denfaminicogamer, KAI-YOU.
Fantia announced on June 25 that it will not implement the new content guidelines for 2D content and will operate under previous review standards. The decision follows police guidance that the suspected illegal content was live-action, not 2D. The new standards, announced May 19, required stricter mosaic processing and applied to past works, triggering backlash from creators. After reconfirming with police, Fantia confirmed the guidance targeted live-action content. Live-action content will keep the new standards. Fantia apologized for the hasty policy change, saying it deeply regretted the confusion caused. The platform also said it will improve its review operation system and standardize review quality to match other support platforms and social norms. The initial vague reference to "relevant authorities" had fueled criticism. The retraction comes after a May 29 temporary suspension of the new standards for 2D content. Fantia stated that the guidelines are self-regulatory standards based on advice from authorities and social conditions, and do not eliminate future legal risks.
The police indication that triggered the May 19 guideline revision cited Article 175 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes distributing obscene materials. Fantia's parent company, Tora no Ana Co., Ltd., said the police pointed out that some content could constitute that crime. Because Article 175 applies to both live-action and non-live-action content, Fantia judged it necessary to tighten standards across the entire platform, including 2D works.
After reconfirming with the police, Fantia confirmed that the content suspected of illegality was "intended for live-action content." The new standards required mosaic processing "in a state where the original form is not visually recognizable" and deemed transparent mosaics, light blurring, or partial hiding as insufficient. Since the rules applied to past posts as well, creators who had been active for years faced potentially massive correction work. On social media, voices such as "the response is unrealistic" and "creative activities will stop" spread, and some works were taken down.
Fantia apologized for the hasty policy change, saying "we deeply regret it." It stated that the guidelines are "voluntary regulation standards" based on advice from authorities and social conditions, and do not eliminate or guarantee against future legal risks. The platform said it will improve its review operation system and standardize review quality, and will respond to future indications from police and government offices while making operational decisions autonomously with expert advice.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.