Former Digital Minister Taro Kono: "Online Ad Fraud, Enact Parliamentary Legislation in One Month" — Dialogue with SmartNews Co-founder Ken Suzuki at T4IS2026 'Digital Public Square'

Overview

Socialus Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Sera Yoon) held a fireside chat titled 'Digital Public Square' between Mr. Taro Kono, Member of the House of Representatives (former Digital Minister, Liberal Democratic Party), and Mr. Ken Suzuki (SmartNews Co-founder, Project Researcher at the University of Tokyo) on the main stage of the 'Tech for Impact Summit 2026' (T4IS2026), an invitation-only executive summit and official partner event of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026, held on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Kioi Conference, Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho.

Past summits have featured speakers such as Audrey Tang (former Digital Minister of Taiwan), the first Digital Minister Hirai, Charles Hoskinson (founder of Cardano), and Kathy Matsui (co-founder of MPower Partners, former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs), marking this as the third annual event.

The two speakers frankly discussed four overarching themes: (1) online advertising fraud countermeasures and Japan's regulatory delays, (2) SNS real-name systems and Japan's content culture, (3) public administration in the AI era and 'broad listening,' and (4) the formative experience of jointly developing the COVID-19 vaccination dashboard in 2021.

① Online Advertising Fraud Countermeasures — "A 80 Trillion Yen Industry Globally, Taiwan Reduced to 1/30th After Implementation"

Mr. Suzuki explained the background of the online advertising fraud countermeasures project he currently leads and emphasized the necessity of regulation.

"According to a report by The Economist, online advertising fraud is a global industry worth approximately 80 trillion yen." (Mr. Suzuki)

"Reuters reported late last year on an internal Meta document stating that 10% of Meta's revenue, 10% of its sales, comes from fraudulent ads." (Mr. Suzuki)

"In Taiwan, a law was passed in 2024 and implemented in 2025, reducing online advertising fraud to one-thirtieth of what it was before the law's enforcement. This was achieved through the efforts of Audrey Tang." (Mr. Suzuki)

As the core of the Taiwan model, Mr. Suzuki cited three points: (a) 'Fraud Buster,' a fraud reporting website operated by the police, (b) the obligation to delete fraudulent content within 24 hours of notification, and (c) joint liability for damages for violating advertising platforms. He pointed out that this is a structural problem combined with the large-scale special fraud compounds (such as KK Park and Prince Group, towns of 10,000 people along the border) that have become a major industry in Southeast Asia.

In response, Mr. Kono proposed a rapid response through parliamentary legislation in Japan:

"Parliamentary legislation must be properly handled in the Diet. Because this is a priority, if it's done in the House of Representatives this week, then in the House of Councillors next week, we need to move at a pace that allows for implementation in about a month. If we continue at the current pace of government offices, it might be two years later, and then fraud cannot be stopped, and victims will return to the initial point of feeling that even if they raise their voices, nothing changes." (Mr. Kono)

The two discussed (i) mandatory identity verification for monetized accounts, (ii) clarification of rules for compensation for damages when harm occurs (including raising the guaranteed amount for insult and defamation), and (iii) a 24-hour deletion obligation and joint liability for platforms, as entry points for Japan. Mr. Suzuki stated, "The era where platform operators could freely conduct their business models under self-regulation has come to an end."

② SNS Real-Name System and Japan's Content Culture — "South Korea's Supreme Court Ruled Unconstitutional in 2012"

"For monetized accounts, a real-name system is absolutely better. As long as they are making money, the responsibility for who is doing it must be clear, and if damage occurs, they must naturally be subject to compensation. Selling goods and services in the real world and simply bringing that to the internet leaves little room for debate." (Mr. Kono)

On the other hand, Mr. Suzuki shared concerns about a pure real-name system, citing the case of South Korea, which introduced a real-name system around 2007 and saw it ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012.

"Japan's rich content culture comes from its anonymous culture. Most Japanese creators' X accounts use anime or manga icons and non-real names. This is connected to the network culture of the Edo period, where creative activities transcended social status through communication using 'haigo' (haiku names) or stage names in Kabuki. If it becomes real-name, all of that might be crushed – this could lead to a significant cultural loss." (Mr. Suzuki)