Overview of the National Police Agency Survey
On April 12, 2023, the National Police Agency released the results of a fact-finding survey on the procurement and sale of sexual services using social media. The number of cases of procurement and sale of sexual services identified via Twitter (now X) during 2022 rose about 80% year-on-year, recording the largest rate of increase in the past five years.
Why Twitter Functions as a "Marketplace"
Twitter is a platform on which relatively open posting is possible, and it is easy to operate in a members-only manner using the "locked account" feature. Providers of sexual services use "hashtags" to gather customers and conduct specific exchanges via direct message (DM).
Twitter Inc. (now X Corp) has adopted a policy of permitting some sexual content for premium members, and some point out that the line between this and the procurement of sexual services is becoming blurred.
The Direction of Platform Regulation
The National Police Agency indicated its policy of "considering legally clarifying the obligation of social media platform operators to delete illegal content and to provide information to authorities." Within the EU, the "Digital Services Act (DSA)" has been phased in since 2023, and voices calling for the establishment of a similar framework in Japan are growing.
This article is compiled based on publicly available information.