Japanese Woman Convicted over 14 Social Media 'Likes': Tokyo Court Hands Suspended Detention Sentence in Stalking Case
The Tokyo District Court ruled on Nov. 10 in an unusual stalking case built on social media "likes": Serina Saito, 33, pressed "like" 14 times and reposted once on her former boyfriend's posts on X even after a no-contact order had been issued against her. The court found her guilty of violating Japan's Stalker Regulation Act and sentenced her to six months' detention, suspended for three years with probation. Kyodo News said it is rare in Japan for someone to be prosecuted and convicted over social media likes.
According to the ruling, after the man ended the relationship in February this year, Saito kept sending him messages on LINE and was arrested on Feb. 14; on March 3 she received a prohibition order under the Stalker Regulation Act, and on May 27 she was fined 200,000 yen and released in a stalking case involving the same man. Just one week later, on June 3, she liked his posts on X 14 times and reposted once, and was prosecuted again.
Presiding Judge Yoshihiro Hayashi said in the ruling that repeating the conduct only a week after being punished over the same man showed persistence, that she had reacted to the posts in order to satisfy romantic feelings, and that the conduct could not escape severe condemnation; taking into account signs of remorse, including her promise to delete the X app, the court suspended the sentence with probation. Prosecutors had sought six months' detention. The defense had argued the actions were not motivated by romantic feelings and sought an acquittal.
The basis of the conviction was that Saito was already under a prohibition order, and what the court punished was contact in violation of that order, not the act of liking a post on social media by an ordinary user in itself.
(Source: Tokyo District Court)
Source: Tokyo District Court
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：东京霞关的法院大楼，东京地方裁判所所在地。照片：663highland，CC BY 2.5，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The courthouse building in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, home to the Tokyo District Court. Photo by 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
