Nintendo terminates the 3DS SwapNote service due to pornography and child luring

If you enjoyed using the 3DS SwapNote to send messages to your friends, you won’t be able to do so anymore. Nintendo has removed the Nintendo 3DS SwapNote service, and for good reason. As it turns out, SwapNote has seen the exact opposite of its original, innocent intentions of use. It has been used as a means of exchanging offensive material among its users, especially among teenagers. What’s even more alarming is that it has been used for child pornography.

To those who are not familiar with SwapNote, it is a service exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS that allows users to exchange notes and drawings. The users must be registered friends with each other to be able to exchange messages.

Japanese newspaper Mainichi and Kotaku reported on a 44-year old man from the Aichi Perfecture who is facing charges after asking two girls aged 11 and 12 to send him nude images. The man had also admitted to committing said acts.

However, it seems that the SwapNote software itself isn’t the sole problem. Internet accessibility via the Nintendo 3DS handheld console is the main culprit. A report by Yomimuri Online (translated by Kotaku) has set off even more alarm bells. A 12 year old girl was apparently lured by two older men aged 49 and 36 into a hotel room, where they performed ‘improper acts’ on her. The girl had met both men through an online dating site using her Nintendo 3DS.

In both incidents, the children’s parents had turned off the console’s Internet accessibility, but the kids managed to turn it back on, hence Nintendo’s decision to terminate the SwapNote service.

Nintendo always wants to provide a positive experience for all consumers and limit the risk of any inappropriate activity or misuse of a service. We feel it is important on this occasion to take this action.

We are very sorry for any inconvenience to the many consumers who have been using this service responsibly; however this decision was made considering the point that many minors also use this feature of Swapnote. Thank you for your understanding.