I Want to Identify an Instagram Account! Steps to Stop Harassment through Disclosure Requests
There has been an increase in cases of harassment, such as defamation, on Instagram (known as Insta in Japan), leading to various troubles.
In this article, we will explain how to identify Instagram accounts that are causing harassment and discuss possible solutions to this issue.
Common Harassment Issues on Instagram
On Instagram, you may encounter various forms of harassment such as defamation, impersonation, unauthorized reproduction, cyberstalking, and information leakage.
Defamation
For example, defamatory comments may be posted on a restaurant’s account, such as “My friend worked part-time at this restaurant, and apparently the kitchen was full of bugs.”
Furthermore, individuals may receive abusive comments or messages such as “Die” or “Gross”.
There are also cases where individuals are falsely accused of being the perpetrator of an incident, leading to the spread of baseless rumors and defamation.
Impersonation
Impersonation involves copying another account’s profile picture, account information, and posts to create a fake account.
Since you cannot create two identical usernames, the impersonator’s username will be different. However, if the username is similar, it may not be immediately noticeable, and the fake account may go undetected.
Unauthorized Reproduction
Unauthorized reproduction refers to the act of reposting photos or videos posted on Instagram to another account without permission.
Not only on Instagram, but also posting photos or videos that others have posted on blogs or other social media platforms, i.e., photos or videos for which you do not hold the copyright, on Instagram without permission is considered unauthorized reproduction.
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking refers to persistent online harassment.
Various forms of harassment can occur, such as persistently sending comments or messages on Instagram, or identifying one’s affiliation from photos posted on Instagram.
Even if you block the account, there are cases where the stalker creates another account and continues the harassment.
There is also a risk that cyberstalking on Instagram could escalate into actual stalking, so caution is necessary.
Information Leakage
Information leakage can occur when someone identifies your school, workplace, or address from photos you’ve posted on Instagram and comments such as “You’re a student at XX University, aren’t you?”
Even if you are careful not to post photos that reveal your address or affiliation, your area can be narrowed down from reflections in windows or mirrors in the photo, and you may be identified from other posted content.
The Process of Identifying an Instagram Account
The general process for identifying an Instagram poster is as follows:
- Request for IP address disclosure
- Order or notification to prevent log deletion
- Request for disclosure of name and address
We will explain each step in detail below.
Step 1. Request for IP Address Disclosure
The first step is to request the disclosure of the IP address.
It is not necessary to conduct a formal trial to request the disclosure of an IP address; it can be handled by a provisional disposition.
While trials often take a long time, often over a year, provisional dispositions are usually decided within about 1 to 2 months.
What is an IP Address?
An IP address is a number that devices on a network, such as PCs, smartphones, and tablets, have.
As the name suggests, an IP address serves a role similar to a physical address on the internet.
When creating an Instagram account, you enter your mobile phone number or email address, full name, username, and password.
This full name does not have to be your real name.
Therefore, it is likely that Instagram’s management only knows the user’s personal information through their mobile phone number or email address.
Especially if you register with a free email address, it can be very difficult to identify an individual.
In order to identify and obtain personal information, it is necessary to disclose IP address information.
Proof of Illegality of the Post is Required for IP Address Disclosure
The following is stated in the “Details” of Instagram’s Community Guidelines:
(Excerpt)
https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119?helpref=page_content
Failure to comply with these provisions may result in content removal, account suspension, or other restrictions.
(End of excerpt)
*Instagram Community Guidelines “Details”
Comments that have been removed by the management for violating the terms and guidelines do not necessarily have illegality.
In order to request the disclosure of the IP address and have the court issue an order for the disclosure of the IP address, the following two responses are necessary:
- Legal argument demonstrating the illegality of the comment
- Submission of evidence to support the above
As for the evidence to support this, what kind of documents, etc. can be used as evidence varies depending on the situation, so please feel free to contact Monolith Law Office, which is strong in IT.
Step 2. Order or Notification to the Provider to Prevent Log Deletion
If you succeed in requesting the disclosure of the IP address, you will be able to identify the provider used by the commenter.
Providers keep logs (records of computer usage) for a certain period of time, and by looking at these logs, you can see the content and date and time of data sent and received.
However, logs are not stored forever.
Especially for mobile lines, the storage period is short, and they may be deleted in about 3 months.
If the log is deleted, the record of the commenter will be lost, so you must have the provider issue an order to prevent the deletion of the log.
This prohibition order requires a separate legal procedure from the request for disclosure of the IP address.
However, there are many cases where the log can be saved without having to go to court if a notification is issued with the content, “We are going to proceed with the procedure to request the disclosure of the commenter’s name and address, so please do not delete the log until the disclosure order is issued.”
Therefore, it is better to consider notification rather than litigation first.
Even when issuing a notification, it is necessary to argue the illegality of the comment and prepare evidence to show the illegality.
Legal knowledge is necessary to create such a notification, so it is better to ask a lawyer to create it for you.
Step 3. Procedure for Requesting Disclosure of Instagram Poster’s Name and Address
Next, we will proceed with the procedure to request the disclosure of the Instagram poster’s name and address.
The request for disclosure of name and address requires a formal legal procedure, not a provisional disposition.
For example, if a celebrity posts about a beauty salon on Instagram and a comment is posted saying, “I was mistaken about the strength of the machine during the treatment and damaged my skin, and I had to go to the hospital, but there was no apology or anything from the beauty salon. Please stop introducing such malicious beauty salons.”
If the comment is not intended to harass, but has a solid basis, and it is considered that disclosing the fact is in the public interest, it is considered inappropriate to disclose the commenter’s address and name.
The court carefully deliberates and only issues an order to disclose the name and address if it recognizes the illegality of the post.
Actions to Take After Identifying an Instagram Account
Claiming Damages and Compensation
Once an order to disclose the name and address is issued, the name and address of the person who contracted the internet line used when the poster made the comment will be disclosed.
Once you have identified this information, you can claim for things like attorney’s fees incurred during the process and compensation for the damages suffered.
If the poster pays the damages properly and it can be applied to the attorney’s fees, the victim will not have to bear any financial burden.
However, there is a possibility that the identification of the poster may fail, or even if the poster is successfully identified and damages are claimed, the damages may not cover the attorney’s fees, leaving the victim with a financial burden.
Filing a Criminal Complaint
If the harassment on Instagram constitutes defamation or obstruction of business, you may consider filing a criminal complaint.
A criminal complaint is an act in which the complainant (the victim of a crime, etc.) reports the facts of a crime to the investigative authorities or the prosecutor and expresses the intention to seek punishment for the offender.
The type of behavior that can lead to a criminal complaint varies depending on the case, so please contact us first.
Cost Estimate for Requesting a Disclosure from a Lawyer
The average cost of requesting a lawyer for disclosure and deletion on the internet is as follows:
| Initial Fee | Success Fee |
| About 300,000 yen | About 300,000 yen |
The initial fee is around 300,000 yen, and the success fee is around 300,000 yen.
https://monolith.law/reputation/reputation-lawyers-fee
However, the cost naturally varies depending on the content and volume of the post in question.
Please note that the operating corporation of Instagram is Facebook, Inc., a U.S. corporation.
Even if the person who posted the malicious comment resides in Japan, the counterparty in the procedure is a foreign corporation, so it is necessary to translate necessary documents and evidence into English and obtain registration of a U.S. corporation.
Compared to procedures with a Japanese corporation as the counterparty, an additional fee of about 200,000 yen is often added to the lawyer’s fee for actual expenses such as English translation.
Summary: Identifying Instagram Accounts to Stop Harassment
Instagram is a convenient service that allows you to share photos with friends and easily obtain information about celebrities and shops you are interested in.
However, there are cases where comments that amount to harassment or defamation are made against posts.
In order to identify the poster of malicious comments on Instagram, several legal procedures are required as mentioned above.
If you succeed in identifying the commenter, you can claim damages. However, the legal fees required for the series of procedures are not cheap, and there are cases where the damages do not cover the legal fees and the amount of damage.
The procedure to identify the poster is a complex one that requires extensive expertise in law and the internet.
If you have been victimized by malicious harassment on Instagram, please consult with Monolith Legal Consultation Office, which has expertise in online defamation.
Category: Internet
