Japan Designates Pixiv, Note, Girls Channel, Sukikirai.com Under Platform Law
The third designation round pulls creator platforms and an anonymous rating site tied to oshi-katsu culture into the same regulatory framework as X and TikTok, obligating them to speed up takedown responses and disclose moderation data.
Reporting from 1 source: KAI-YOU.
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications designated four new entities as large-scale specified telecommunications service providers under the Information Flow Platform Response Act on August 31. The designees are pixiv operator Pixiv Inc., note operator note Inc., Girls Channel operator J-Squared Inc., and an individual running the anonymous rating site Sukikirai.com. They must speed up takedown responses, appoint investigation specialists, and disclose moderation data. This is the third designation round, bringing the total to 13.
Japan's Information Flow Platform Response Act took effect in April 2025, replacing the Provider Liability Limitation Act. Designation requires an average of 10 million monthly senders, a threshold that previously brought in Google, LINE Yahoo, Meta, TikTok, and X, with Pinterest, CyberAgent, Shonan Seibu Home, and Dwango added later.
New designees must appoint infringement information investigation specialists, publish deletion criteria, and decide on takedown requests within seven days. They also must disclose deletion counts, AI-based removals, and the number of Japanese-speaking content moderators.
Sukikirai.com, the only individual operator in the group, has drawn scrutiny over anonymous like/dislike voting on celebrities and streamers, including a 2025 death threat against streamer Yuta Seki and information disclosure requests from VTuber group Vspo!.
- pixiv: illustration communication service operated by Pixiv Inc.
- note: media platform operated by note Inc.
- Girls Channel: bulletin board operated by J-Squared Inc.
- Sukikirai.com: anonymous like/dislike voting site operated by an individual
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.