crime

Police raid 2channel in drug case

16 Comments

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department have searched 10 properties related to the popular Japanese online bulletin board 2channel on the basis that its operators assisted drug deals by failing to delete a post in which a user was offering to sell drugs.

According to Fuji TV, the searches were conducted in locations where it was believed server administration and content curation was carried out because it was not clear who administers 2channel at present or how the message board is operated.

Police said Thursday they have searched 10 locations since last November, including a Sapporo-based computer company responsible for the deletion of inappropriate posts.

It is unusual for the operator of a webpage to be subjected to a criminal investigations for a message a user has posted on it, Fuji quoted legal experts as saying.

According to police, 2channel allegedly failed to delete a message posted by a 54-year-old unemployed man on May 7 last year offering to sell illegal stimulants and syringes. The man has been arrested on suspicion of violating the Stimulants Control Law.

A man and a woman who allegedly bought drugs from the man have also been arrested, they added.

2Channel creator Hiroyuki Nishimura wrote in one of his books that he no longer served as an administrator of the forum after selling it to a Singaporean firm.

Police have repeatedly urged 2channel to delete messages pertaining to illegal activities, but they say the bulletin board has not always responded.

© Japan Today

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16 Comments
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Big brother is watching!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Police over exerting their powers again. Maybe someone at 2 told them they weren't illegal and so the police had to show their wonderful powers of bullshi... Wasting public money to maintain control over the people. Oppressive...

3 ( +4 / -1 )

According to Fuji TV, the searches were conducted...because it was not clear who administers 2channel at present or how the message board is operated.

It sounds to me like the searches were carried out because the authorities "don't know how the message board is operated," and that they merely used the illegal drug-related user postings as guise to attain search warrants from the courts.

Between this sort of police-state activity and the press clubs, this country keeps a tight grip on "free" speech. I question the constitutionality of these polices. Worrisome indeed.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Looks like the cops are desperate for leads. Yeah, must be hard to leave that warm koban and do the beat.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

So much for reasonable search and seizure. The raid accomplished nothing because there was nothing it could possibly accomplish. All they need to do is use 2CH to gather info and go make easy arrests. Not even any need for entrapment schemes. But no. Instead they make Japan a police state. And for what? Some people doing drugs? Just another reason why I hate cops.

0 ( +5 / -4 )

You may be arrested when they even suspect you being a terrorist ... by what you have posted.

@Elvensilvan Don't you think you are over-reaching a bit there? I expressed concerns about dubious grounds for search and seizure of a website that facilitates free speech. I hardly think that even comes close to terrorism. (BTW, I have absolutely no problems with the police pursuing illegal substances.)

I do somewhat agree with you on the Big Brother bit, though. Scary.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Piltdown man: I have absolutely no problems with the police pursuing illegal substances

I know what you mean, but it sounds funny... police looking for drugs.

The searches should be targeted on the wrong doers. Maybe the police think the website is actively facilitating the trade in illegal substances. If that is not the case, then the search was too broad.

Buyers and a seller have been arrested, so the police are active on the board. The police's raid of the servers makes me think the board is facilitating the drug sales or there is some reasonable suspicion to think it is doing so. Of course, I could be interjecting my knowledge of U.S. law on Japanese law.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Good on the J police!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why don't the police post info on there like they do in America and nail lots of really bad people at once...not a joint smoker.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Anyone still have doubts that Japan is a paranoid fascist police state in some respects? Or, at least, that's what the police aspire to?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Piltdown Man

You're worried because police is tracking down posters and website operators for illegal drugs trading?

I think you should be more worried about your social network information. You may be arrested when they even suspect you being a terrorist ... by what you have posted. Big Brother's always watching.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Waste of resource and time.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

2channel should be shut down, but not for the reasons above. It's amazing they'll search a company for a message a user posts on its site, but they'll allow organizations like the JSA to do 'internal investigations' (ie. "step back, keystones!") when it's PROVEN that drugs and murder have taken place.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

the searches were conducted in locations where it was believed server administration and content curation was carried out

OMG, yes, certainly sounds like exigent circumstances to me! Bust down that door! Come on though, for reals... Ever heard of a subpoena?!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

2channel should be shut down,

An anti-freedom statement like that surely deserves an explanation. To just declare that and quietly walk away. We should all keep our eyes on you.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

"Ni chan gomen na," that's it, just a formality, no serious action/punishment expected.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

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