Following a recent series of robberies across Japan, the government is accelerating its crackdown to prevent similar crimes from taking place. The plan targets online recruitment of people to take part in such crimes, and unauthorized disclosures of personal data.
Cabinet ministers related to anticrime measures held a meeting on Friday, with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio attending. They decided on an emergency plan to prevent similar robberies in the future.
Many of the robbers involved in recent cases were recruited online, such as via social media posts. The plan seeks to identify and remove such dubious online recruiting information immediately. To achieve this, it urges the use of Artificial Intelligence to do automatic searches of such recruiting information. It also asks that internet operators delete such information.
Recent robberies also showed that criminal targets were possibly chosen from leaked lists of personal information. The plan aims to crack down on those who provide such lists to criminal groups by using all applicable laws.
The plan also urges people to avoid receiving deliveries in person and use package-drop services instead. It will also support households that install security cameras around their homes.
Kishida said the recent robberies have caused concern among the public. He said it is the government's overriding responsibility to ensure safety and security in people's lives.