ANYCOLOR Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Riku Tazumi) (hereinafter, referred to as “ANYCOLOR” or the “Company”) has established a special task force to combat threatening behavior such as stalking, defamation or other abusive behavior on the Internet (hereinafter, referred to as the “Task Force”) in September 2020 for the purpose of protecting the rights of Virtual Livers and entertainers/affiliated with the Company and our employees (hereinafter, comprehensively referred to as the “Entertainer” or “Entertainers”) from the said behavior.
Fans learning of such behavior against the Entertainers are requested to report the behavior using the links below.
English:
https://www.anycolor.co.jp/en/report
Japanese:
https://www.anycolor.co.jp/report
Establishment of the Task Force
Under the philosophy of “A New Magical Experience,” we are working hard to deliver content to be loved by all fans through our wide array of businesses, which are greatly supported by the Entertainers.
In this background, ANYCOLOR cannot overlook the situation in which the Entertainers have become unable to focus on their activities with peace of mind due to suffering caused from threatening behavior, slander, and other abusive behavior.
Therefore, ANYCOLOR established the Task Force in September 2020, and we have firmly dealt with threatening behavior, slander, and other abusive behavior against the Entertainers.
Formulation of the Guidelines
ANYCOLOR formulated and shared the guidelines for Entertainers with the Entertainers in order to clarify our responses when there are any incidences of threatening behavior, slander, or other abusive behavior toward the Entertainers.
■ Target Behavior
ANYCOLOR has been taking various countermeasures including legal action against the following threatening behavior, slander, and other abusive behavior.
● Threatening behaviors
Threatening behavior refers to the following acts against Entertainers:
- Acts of stalking or ambush
- Acts of demanding meetings, dates, etc.
- Significantly uncouth or violent acts
- Acts of making silent phone calls and/or repeated phone calls and/or repeatedly sending emails or messages on social media, etc.
- Acts of sending filthy matter, items that evoke sexual shame, and/or items that cause feelings of fear
- Acts of notifying the intent to harm the life, body, freedom, honor, or assets of an Entertainer
- Acts of defamation
- Acts of violating privacy
- Acts of damaging financial credit
- Any and all other acts that can harm Entertainers and ANYCOLOR
● Slander
Slander refers to acts of posting contents that infringe on the honor, privacy, thoughts, faith, and any other rights or interests of Entertainers on the internet.
■ Specific Measures
ANYCOLOR takes measures centered around the following three key items against threatening behavior, slander, and other abusive behavior under the leadership of the Task Force.
● Establishment of consultation/reporting contact
ANYCOLOR has established a consultation/reporting contact for threatening behavior, slander, and other abusive behavior targeting Entertainers. We accept reporting not only from Entertainers but also from fans. Therefore, we appreciate reporting from those who become aware of threatening behavior, slander, or other abusive behavior toward Entertainers to our consultation/reporting contact. (Fans are requested to report via the online form on the web page:
https://www.anycolor.co.jp/en/report)
● Relief measures for Entertainers suffering from harm
In the event of any threatening behavior, slander, or other abusive behavior targeting Entertainers, ANYCOLOR mainly implements the following relief measures for the victims.
(1) Provision of mental care by an industrial physician
(2) Measures to prevent the transmission of information which falls under slander on the internet
(3) Accompanying the victims to the police station by the Task Force member(s)
(4) Reinforcement of security
● Measures to pursue liability of the individual(s) at fault
ANYCOLOR implements the following measures to pursue the liability of the individual(s) at fault for threatening behavior, slander, or other abusive behavior. According to the nature of the case, ANYCOLOR takes action in cooperation with third parties including legal offices outside of the Company.
(1) Filing an incident report with the police
(2) Demanding information disclosure on the sender(s) from the internet provider, etc.
(3) Filing a claim for damages against the individual(s) at fault
(4) Directly contacting the individual(s) at fault by the Task Force when social media accounts, etc. of the individual(s) at fault are known
Task Force Activity Report (September 2021)
As the Task Force marked one year since establishment, the Task Force reported its activities as follows:
■ Number of Cases Handled
Approximately 90 cases for the year from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021
■ Types of Behavior Handled by the Task Force
Since September 2020, the Task Force has taken a wide variety of response measures for the following acts.
- Defamation
- Acts of infringement of privacy rights
- Acts of infringement of copyrights (such as use of characters for indecent intent)
- Threatening acts including death threats
- Acts of stalking, etc.
■ Outline of Implemented Measures
The measures taken by the Task Force are as follows:
1 For the infringement of rights on blog sites
The Task Force demanded the operators of the affiliate blog sites (including so-called roundup blog sites) delete articles containing acts of infringement on the honor or privacy rights of the Entertainers of ANYCOLOR (hereinafter, referred to as "the Entertainers") and prevent future similar infringement acts.
2 For the infringement of rights in social media
In social media starting with Twitter, the Task Force demanded individuals delete postings of content that infringes upon the honor or privacy rights of the Entertainers in social media accounts of the said individuals. At the same time, in preparation for cases in which the said individuals do not take any action, the Task Force reported the individual to the relevant social media operators on each occasion. In addition, the Task Force took the same action against individuals pretending to be the Entertainers and who made malicious postings in social media.
3 For the infringement of rights in internet bulletin boards
The Task Force demanded the operators of internet bulletin boards delete postings that can lead to defamation and infringement of the privacy rights of the Entertainers in internet bulletin boards.
4 For copyright infringement in the form of infringement on the honor of the Entertainers
For postings of character illustration and 3D model collages which were created in the form of damaging the honor of the Entertainers on video posting sites and internet bulletin boards, the Task Force demanded the operators of the relevant video posting sites or internet bulletin boards delete such content on the grounds of copyright infringement. In addition, the Task Force demanded the relevant advertisers or site operators delete any advertising using character illustrations of the Entertainers for adult sites or any other items without consent.
5 For the posting of videos that infringe on the rights of the Entertainers and ANYCOLOR
In regard to postings of videos that damage the honor of the Entertainers and ANYCOLOR on video posting platforms, the Task Force took action to have incident reports and letters of accusation accepted by the police in cooperation with our lawyers and the relevant police stations. For a malicious video posting in particular, the complaint was accepted as a criminal case for defamation and established as a prosecutable case.
6 For death threats
For threatening acts of harming the Entertainers including death threats, the Task Force immediately reported the acts to the relevant police station and implemented preventive measures including security arrangements for the Entertainers.
7 For acts of stalking
With respect to acts of stalking including following, ambushing, and one-directional and frequent contact toward the Entertainers, the Task Force reported the acts to the relevant police station and took actions to have restraining orders issued.
As detailed above, the Task Force has been taking a variety of measures against acts that infringe upon the honor, privacy rights, and any other rights of the Entertainers.
For malicious acts among the above-mentioned acts in particular, the Task Force is taking legal action including criminal complaints in cooperation with our lawyers and the relevant police stations.
Reporting on a daily basis through the report form of threatening behavior, slander, or other abusive behavior targeting Entertainers on ANYCOLOR’s corporate site allows us to immediately detect acts of infringement on the rights of the Company’s Entertainers. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for your cooperation.
ANYCOLOR is working to create an environment where the Entertainers can work with peace of mind and will further enhance the system so we can continue offering A New Magical Experience to our fans.
