Courts in Japan, Brazil and Argentina delivered verdicts this week in three unrelated violent crimes that shared a common thread: each was facilitated by a digital platform. In Tokyo, a 44-year-old man was sentenced to 16 years in prison for fatally stabbing a 22-year-old woman at least 55 times while she was livestreaming on a street in March 2025. In Brasília, a former pastor received a 29-year, nine-month sentence for the femicide of a ride-hailing driver in February 2025. And in Mar del Plata, a man was condemned to three years and eight months for robbing and assaulting a victim he met through a messaging application.

In the Tokyo case, the District Court found Kenichi Takano guilty of murdering Airi Sato, whom he had met via a livestreaming app in December 2021. According to the ruling, Takano lent Sato approximately 2.55 million yen (US$16,000) over two months, of which she repaid only 30,000 yen. The presiding judge, Shunichi Ido, described the attack as “a cruel crime that caused enormous pain and suffering,” noting that Takano further degraded the victim by picking up her phone, still broadcasting, and asking “Is she dead?” The defence argued that Takano, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intended only to disfigure Sato, not kill her, and sought a nine-year term. The court acknowledged that his condition may have indirectly contributed to his actions but rejected the argument, stating the act “might have been uncontrollable even without such a condition.” Prosecutors had requested a 20-year sentence.

Viewed from Brasília, the sentencing of Antônio Ailton da Silva, 43, for the murder of app driver Ana Rosa Rodolfo de Queiroz Brandão, 49, was shaped by a different legal framework. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal District argued that the accused selected the victim because she was a woman, demonstrating “rational choice of target and conscious exploitation of the victim’s vulnerability.” The crime was initially recorded as latrocínio — robbery followed by death — but was reclassified as femicide after police investigations. The court heard that da Silva confessed to choosing a female driver due to her perceived fragility. The victim, who had worked as a driver for five years, called her husband after being stabbed, saying “Love, I’m dying.” She left two children; the younger, then 13, became reclusive. The defence sought to downgrade the charge to latrocínio, but the judge imposed a sentence of 29 years, nine months and 15 days, to be served initially in a closed regime.

In Argentina, the Mar del Plata Oral Criminal Court sentenced Jorge Leonel Soarez to three years and eight months for a 2014 robbery. The prosecution established that Soarez arranged a meeting with the victim via Telegram, then subdued, bound and robbed him, taking electronics, clothing and other items, and forcing the victim to arrange a bank transfer. The court dismissed Soarez’s claim that he expected to meet a woman and that a struggle ensued over alleged propositions, finding him guilty of robbery with a non-functional firearm and a stolen key. Declared a repeat offender, he will remain detained until May 2028.

These rulings, while distinct in their legal traditions and severity, illustrate how digital platforms — livestreaming services, ride-hailing apps and encrypted messengers — can become arenas for predation. Japanese judicial sources noted that Takano’s belief he had been deceitfully induced to lend money was a mitigating factor, yet the court underscored the extreme cruelty of the act. Brazilian prosecutors emphasised the misogynistic pattern of behaviour, pointing to da Silva’s assault on his ex-partner the day before the murder. Argentine authorities, meanwhile, treated the case as a property crime with violence, resulting in a comparatively shorter sentence. No further appeals have been announced in the Tokyo or Brasília cases; the Argentine sentence was the result of an abbreviated trial agreement and is final.