An Attorney Explains How to Identify Anonymous Users on Yahoo! Chiebukuro

Every day, a large number of questions and answers are posted on Yahoo! Chiebukuro. It’s likely that many of you have seen these posts, as they often appear in search results when you use search engines like Google to look up related keywords.

However, because anyone can easily post questions and answers, there is a possibility that some posts may be considered defamatory or damaging to one’s reputation.

In addition, Yahoo! Chiebukuro allows users to post anonymously, making it virtually difficult to identify individuals by matching IDs across multiple posts.

In this article, we will explain from a legal perspective how to identify the poster if malicious questions or answers are posted on Yahoo! Chiebukuro.

What is Yahoo! Chiebukuro?

Yahoo! Chiebukuro is a knowledge community operated by Yahoo! JAPAN (Yahoo Japan Corporation). It is a service where users can share wisdom by asking and answering questions.

Yahoo! Chiebukuro has categories in various genres such as celebrities, cooking, health, love advice, and human relationship troubles. A wide variety of questions and answers are posted, ranging from everyday worries that are difficult to consult with friends and family, such as ways to reconcile, to specialized matters.

Yahoo! JAPAN Terms of Use

Examples of Malicious Questions and Answers Posted on Yahoo! Chiebukuro

Yahoo! Chiebukuro allows anyone who has logged into Yahoo! JAPAN and registered for Yahoo! Chiebukuro to ask and answer questions.

Therefore, content that may be considered slanderous or defamatory, such as the following, may be posted:

• “Is it true that harmful bacteria are proliferating in the hot springs of ○○ Inn?”
• “I heard that △△ Restaurant is hiding the fact that they caused food poisoning.”

In such cases, you can report the violation by clicking the “Report Violation” button at the bottom right of the post. If it is judged to violate the “Rules of Use” of Yahoo! Chiebukuro, the post may be deleted.

The prohibited actions listed in the “Rules of Use” of Yahoo! Chiebukuro are as follows:

Prohibited Action 1: Posting content that excessively criticizes, slanders, attacks, or hurts others, or makes others uncomfortable
Prohibited Action 2: Posting unpleasant content that includes obscenity, violence, or extreme depictions
Prohibited Action 3: Posting content that incites or foretells illegal or criminal acts
Prohibited Action 4: Using for commercial or advertising purposes
Prohibited Action 5: Posting information that can identify individuals
Prohibited Action 6: Infringing on the intellectual property rights of third parties, such as copyrights
Prohibited Action 7: Acts that interfere with the operation of the service
Prohibited Action 8: Posts that are not questions or answers, or even if they are, do not make sense
Prohibited Action 9: Impersonation or self-promotion
Prohibited Action 10: Solicitation or call-to-action posts
Prohibited Action 11: Posts about obvious false information
Prohibited Action 12: Anything else that Yahoo! JAPAN deems inappropriate

Rules of Use – Yahoo! Chiebukuro

However, even if you report a violation, it does not necessarily mean that the post will be deleted.

If a malicious question or answer is not deleted even after reporting a violation, or if the damage caused by the post is significant, consider taking legal steps to identify the poster.

Procedure for Identifying Yahoo! Chiebukuro Posters

The general procedure for identifying a poster is as follows:

1. Disclosure of IP address
2. Request for log preservation
3. Request for disclosure of name and address
4. Claim for damages

The same basic process applies to Yahoo! Chiebukuro, so we will explain each of these steps in detail below.

Step 1: Request for IP Address Disclosure

The first step in identifying a malicious poster on Yahoo! Chiebukuro is to request the site administrator to disclose the IP address.

What is an IP Address?

An IP address is a number assigned to a device (such as a PC or smartphone) on a network to identify it, much like an address on the internet.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is virtually impossible to identify a poster from their ID or other information on Yahoo! Chiebukuro, as the site allows anonymous posting.

However, to use Yahoo! Chiebukuro, you need to log in to your account registered with Yahoo! JAPAN.

Yahoo! JAPAN, the site administrator, obtains and stores the IP address used at the time of this login.

If you know the IP address used at the time of login, you can identify the server and its administrator (the transit provider) that the login passed through. By requesting the transit provider to disclose the subscriber information (name, address, etc.) assigned to the above IP address, you can identify the poster.

Therefore, to identify the poster, you first need to get the site administrator to disclose the IP address.

Request for Disclosure of Poster’s IP Address

You can request the disclosure of the IP address through a procedure called a provisional disposition.

A provisional disposition is a type of civil preservation system, a temporary measure determined by the court.

In this procedure, you can also request the deletion of the post along with the disclosure of the IP address.

As mentioned earlier, Yahoo! JAPAN does not necessarily respond to every report of a violation against malicious posts.

Therefore, if the post is not removed even after reporting a violation, or if the mental distress is severe, it may be better to consider a method involving a provisional disposition, which has legal binding power.

Claiming and Proving the Illegality of the Post

According to the “Rules of Use” of Yahoo! Chiebukuro, if a question or answer that violates the prohibited items is posted, Yahoo! JAPAN can delete the post, etc.

Posts that include personal information, violate laws, contain malicious links, make others uncomfortable, or contain content that significantly hurts or attacks someone are considered violations of the terms of use, and the question or answer may be deleted. In severe cases, the Yahoo! JAPAN ID may be deleted or subject to penalties.

What is a violation of the terms of use

However, the above “Rules of Use” are merely internal rules of Yahoo! Chiebukuro, and whether they are illegal is a separate issue.

Therefore, when requesting the court to disclose the IP address, it is necessary to consider legal arguments to justify the illegality of the question or answer, and evidence to prove such illegality.

Step 2: Request for Log Preservation

As mentioned earlier, once the order to disclose the IP address is issued and the IP address is disclosed by the site administrator, you can identify the transit provider. The transit provider keeps a record (log) of the communications of the person using the IP address.

However, logs are not stored permanently, and in some cases, such as mobile lines, they may be deleted after about three months.

Therefore, you need to get the court to issue an order to the provider to prohibit the deletion of the log in order to preserve it.

This prohibition order must be issued through a separate court procedure from the request for IP address disclosure, etc.

However, if you notify the transit provider that you are about to proceed with the procedure to request the disclosure of the poster’s name and address, and ask them to preserve the log until the disclosure order is issued, they will often preserve the log even without a provisional disposition.

Therefore, it is advisable to consider issuing such a notice first.

However, even to issue the above notice, you need to claim and prove the illegality of the relevant post, and this requires specialized knowledge, so it is recommended to consult a lawyer.

Step 3: Request for Disclosure of Name and Address

After requesting the preservation of the log, you request the transit provider to disclose the name and address of the poster.

The request for disclosure of the name and address is not a provisional measure, but requires a final court procedure.

Therefore, the court will carefully consider the illegality of the post, and will only issue an order to disclose the name and address if it finally recognizes the illegality of the post.

Step 4: Claim for Damages

Once the name and address of the poster are disclosed, you can claim for damages such as attorney’s fees incurred in the process and compensation for damages.

If the damages are properly paid and can be applied to the attorney’s fees, there is no financial burden on the victim.

However, there are cases where the identification of the poster ends without being able to identify the poster, or even if the poster is identified and damages are claimed, the received damages do not cover the entire attorney’s fees.

For more information on this point, please refer to the following article.

How to Identify Someone Who Has Defamed You on Yahoo! Chiebukuro Without Going Through the Courts

While Yahoo! Chiebukuro allows anonymous posts, these are linked to Yahoo! JAPAN accounts. Therefore, Yahoo! JAPAN may have the poster’s name and address on record.

Consequently, if you request Yahoo! JAPAN to disclose the poster’s information and obtain their name and address, it is possible to file a claim for damages against the poster.

However, from Yahoo! JAPAN’s perspective, the person who posted the comment is a customer. From the viewpoint of personal information protection, they often state that they “cannot comply with disclosure requests unless a public judgment is made by the court”. Therefore, cases where they comply with voluntary disclosure requests are currently rare.

Consult a Lawyer if You’re Having Trouble Deleting Yahoo! Chiebukuro Posts

Yahoo! Chiebukuro is a very convenient service where you can easily consult about questions and concerns that are difficult to ask people close to you, and get answers.

However, there may be cases where malicious questions are posted, or answers that could be considered slanderous are posted.

In order to identify the poster of malicious questions or answers, it is necessary to go through multiple court procedures, and each procedure is complex.

If you are troubled by malicious posts on Yahoo! Chiebukuro, it is advisable to consult with a lawyer who is knowledgeable about online slander and defamation measures as soon as possible.