Overview of the New Guidelines
On April 16, 2025, the "Joint Study Group on Countermeasures Against Digital Sexual Transactions," run by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, released new guidelines summarizing a year of deliberations. The main points are as follows.
Obligations imposed on platforms - A duty to act (warn or delete) against posts that suggest sexual services - A duty to respond within 72 hours to deletion requests from the authorities - Stronger age verification to protect underage users
Measures targeting buyers of sex - Consideration of introducing direct penalties for purchasers of sexual services as well - Debate over shifting toward a "Swedish model" (Nordic model) approach
Outlook for legislation The group indicated its intention to submit a bill based on the new guidelines to the ordinary session of the Diet in 2026.
This article is compiled from publicly available information.