Swapnote shutdown linked to child predators
Nintendo has disabled all SpotPass features within Swapnote. Why? Based on a report from a pair of Japanese newspapers, Nintendo made the move following some disturbing incidents.
Child pornography charges have been filed against a 44 year-old man who apparently sent nude photos through Swapnote to two girls aged 11 and 12. The acts have already been confessed to.
Two other men, aged 49 and 36, have also been arrested for allegedly performing “improper acts” in hotel rooms with a young girl several times earlier in the year. The 12 year-old child met both adults through her 3DS, though apparently not through Swapnote. Yomiuri Online reports that the 3DS’s online function was used to access an online dating site. Interestingly, Mainichi News does specifically mention Swapnote.
In both instances, the parents had originally turned off the 3DS’s internet function, but the children turned it back on.
