Aug 7, 2026 — MIC and six other agencies send a written request to Google, LY Corp., Meta, TikTok and X
On August 7, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), jointly with the National Police Agency, Financial Services Agency, Consumer Affairs Agency, Digital Agency, Ministry of Justice and METI, sent a written request to major SNS providers asking them to strengthen measures against impersonation-type "fake ads." The request went to five companies: Google LLC, LY Corporation, Meta Platforms, Inc., TikTok Pte. Ltd. and X Corp. The government cites the spread of fake ads — including impersonation ads that use deepfakes to exploit celebrities' likeness and voice without permission — and the growing damage from investment scams that begin with such ads. It states that fake ads not only risk financial loss for the consumers and users who view them, but also seriously damage the social credibility of the people impersonated, so from the standpoint of protecting users this cannot be overlooked, and the relevant agencies are continuing to study countermeasures. This is not new legal regulation: it asks platform operators for "further strengthening of voluntary efforts." What stands out is the seven-agency joint structure, mirrored in the inquiry contacts on the release: Digital Agency for the request as a whole, NPA for fake-ad countermeasures, the Internet Hotline Center for illegal and harmful content reports, FSA for unregistered financial instruments dealers and for crypto assets / funds transfer, the Consumer Affairs Agency for consumer protection, Digital Agency for My Number Card utilization, MOJ for commercial registry electronic certificates, and METI for operation of the Act on Improving Transparency and Fairness of Digital Platforms.
Foreign residents and visitors, who often cannot judge whether Japanese ad copy or a company name is legitimate, are especially exposed to impersonation ads. Because the request targets the five platforms most people in Japan use daily, ad screening and reporting responses may be tightened going forward. At the same time, this is a request for voluntary action — fake ads will not disappear overnight. What matters in practice is that help is not concentrated in a single desk: it is split by field. Investment-solicitation ads fall under the FSA (unregistered financial instruments dealers; crypto assets and funds transfer), illegal or harmful posts and ads go to the Internet Hotline Center, and consumer-life trouble is the Consumer Affairs Agency's remit. Many of these desks assume communication in Japanese, so lining up an interpreter — a friend, or the support desk at your workplace or school — before you contact them makes things far smoother. For foreign business owners who advertise on SNS in Japan, identity and business verification (commercial registry electronic certificates, My Number Card utilization) appear among the topics, so it is safer to assume ad-placement procedures may become stricter.
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