TOKYO: (Bernama-Kyodo) Japan's communications ministry on Friday (July 24) urged five companies, including the operator of social media platform X and United States (US) tech giant Google LLC, to improve their disclosure of measures against malicious posts and other harmful content.
Kyodo News reported that the five social media platform operators were determined to have violated the law and will be required to rebuild their disclosure frameworks based on the government's corrective recommendations.
Corrective orders will be issued if they fail to comply with the recommendations without legitimate grounds.
The three other companies subject to the recommendations are US-based Meta Platforms Inc., operator of Facebook and Instagram, Shonan Seibu Home Co., operator of the anonymous bulletin board bakusai.com, and Dwango Co., which operates the video streaming website niconico.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications found that the information disclosed by the five companies on their enforcement measures for harmful content for fiscal 2025, published by the end of May, was insufficient.
The ministry had scrutinised the information provided by the companies under the law to determine whether they had included all disclosure items stipulated by ministerial ordinance.
"Appropriate action needs to be taken in light of the recommendations. We will communicate with the companies to ensure steady progress toward corrective measures," communications minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference.
The Information Distribution Platform Act, which took effect in April last year, requires social media platforms to address the distribution of harmful content and take measures to expedite their responses to requests for its removal. - Bernama-Kyodo
