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Line is a
freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the ...
app for instant communications on
electronic devices The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
such as
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...
s,
tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being com ...
s and
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or te ...
s. Line users exchange: texts,
images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
, video and audio and conduct free
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
conversations and video conferences. In addition, Line is a platform providing various services including:
digital wallet A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can ...
as Line Pay,
news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...
stream as LINE Today,
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...
as
Line TV Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...
and digital
comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
distribution as
Line Manga is an online manga and webtoon platform and smartphone app operated by Line Corporation. It originally launched with just licensed manga titles but soon expanded to include original webtoons. Overview Line first launched its manga service in 201 ...
and
Line Webtoon Webtoon (stylized in all caps) is a South Korean webtoon platform launched in 2004 by Naver Corporation. As the name suggests, it is a platform for posting webtoons, compact digital comics in South Korea. The platform first launched in Korea as ...
. The service is operated by Line Corporation, a
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
-based subsidiary of
Z Holdings Z Holdings Corporation is a Tokyo-based holding company. Z Holdings owns Yahoo! Japan, Japan's largest portal website; Line, Japan's largest messaging app; and PayPay, Japan's largest mobile payment app. Z Holdings is controlled by another holdi ...
. Line was launched in Japan in June 2011 by
NHN Japan NHN Japan Corporation is the Japanese subsidiary of NHN Entertainment Corporation. NHN Comico NHN Comico operates Comico, a webtoon portal that is available in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. NHN PlayArt NHN PlayArt is video game ...
, a subsidiary of
Naver Corporation The Naver Corporation is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Seongnam that operates the search engine Naver. Naver established itself as an early pioneer in the use of user-generated content through the creation of the online ...
. Because it was tailored to Japanese consumers' tastes and offered free smartphone calls as well as texting, with the help of a massive marketing campaign it quickly outpaced its existing rival
KakaoTalk KakaoTalk (Hangul: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Hangul: 카톡) in South Korea, is a mobile messaging app for smartphones operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 2010, and it is available on mobile and deskto ...
for the Japanese market. It reached 100 million users within 18 months and 200 million users six months later. Line became Japan's largest
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods fo ...
in 2013, with more than 300 million users. By February 2015 it had 600 million users. In March 2021, SoftBank Group affiliate and
Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese internet company originally formed as a joint venture between the American internet company Yahoo! (later divested by Verizon into Altaba) and the Japanese company SoftBank. It is headquartered at Kioi Tower in the Tokyo Garden Te ...
operator
Z Holdings Z Holdings Corporation is a Tokyo-based holding company. Z Holdings owns Yahoo! Japan, Japan's largest portal website; Line, Japan's largest messaging app; and PayPay, Japan's largest mobile payment app. Z Holdings is controlled by another holdi ...
completed a merger with Line Corporation. Under the new structure, A Holdings, a subsidiary of
SoftBank is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vi ...
Corporation and
Naver Corporation The Naver Corporation is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Seongnam that operates the search engine Naver. Naver established itself as an early pioneer in the use of user-generated content through the creation of the online ...
, will own 65.3% of Z Holdings, which will operate Line and Yahoo! Japan. Line is the most popular messaging application in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.


History

In
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, the home of NHN Japan's parent company Naver Corporation, Naver had launched a messaging app called Naver Talk for the South Korean market in February 2011. However, rival Korean company
Kakao Kakao ( ko, 카카오) is a South Korean internet company that was established in 2010. It formed as a result of a merger between Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc. In 2014, the company was renamed Daum Kakao. The company rebranded ...
had
first-mover advantage In marketing strategy, first-mover advantage (FMA) is the competitive advantage gained by the initial ("first-moving") significant occupant of a market segment. First-mover advantage enables a company or firm to establish strong brand recognitio ...
with its
KakaoTalk KakaoTalk (Hangul: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Hangul: 카톡) in South Korea, is a mobile messaging app for smartphones operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched on March 18, 2010, and it is available on mobile and deskto ...
app launched in March 2010 and easily dominated the Korean market by March 2012. Naver/NHN co-founder and chairman Lee Hae-Jin and a team of engineers were in Japan when the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck in March 2011. Naver/NHN had been in Japan for ten years, trying to build a Japanese search and portal business, since NHN's other international ventures had stagnated. The earthquake and tsunami left millions without power and phone lines and SMS networks were overwhelmed. Since Wi-Fi and some 3G remained largely usable, many people turned to KakaoTalk, which was just beginning to gain a foothold in Japan. Lee was inspired to launch a messaging and chat app in the wake of the disaster and his NHN Japan team was testing a beta version of an app accessible on smartphones, tablet and PC, which would work on data network and provide continuous and free instant messaging and calling service, within two months. The app was launched as Line in June 2011. Because Naver/NHN had a far superior cultural knowledge of what Japanese users wanted, and a much larger corporate marketing budget, Line quickly surpassed KakaoTalk in Japan. Line also offers free voice calls and, since Japan's telecoms make customers pay for both SMSs and smartphone calls, this feature, which KakaoTalk did not have, was a major selling point. The app proved hugely popular, and by late October 2011, Line experienced an unexpected server overload. To improve scalability to accommodate its exponential rise in new users, NHN Japan chose HBase as the primary storage for user profiles, contacts and groups. In December 2011, Naver announced that Naver Talk would be merged into Line, effective early 2012. In July 2012,
NHN Japan NHN Japan Corporation is the Japanese subsidiary of NHN Entertainment Corporation. NHN Comico NHN Comico operates Comico, a webtoon portal that is available in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. NHN PlayArt NHN PlayArt is video game ...
announced the new Line features ''Home'' and ''Timeline''. The features allowed users to share recent personal developments to a community of contacts in real-time, similar to the status updates in social networking services such as Facebook. On April 1, 2013, Naver's Japanese branch name was changed from NHN Japan to Line Corporation. Line became Japan's largest social network by the end of 2013, with more than 300 million registrants worldwide, of which more than 50 million users were within Japan.Akky Akimoto, 2013-12-17
Looking at 2013′s Japanese social-media scene
The Japan Times
In October 2014, Line announced that it had attracted 560 million users worldwide with 170 million active user accounts. In February 2015, it announced the 600 million users mark had been passed and 700 million were expected by the end of the year. Line was originally developed as a mobile application for Android and IOS smartphones. The service has since expanded to:
BlackBerry OS BlackBerry OS is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system developed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized i ...
(August 2012),
Nokia Asha The Nokia Asha series was a range of low-end feature phones and smartphones produced and marketed by Nokia. The name "Asha" came from the Hindi word meaning "hope". On 3 September 2013, Microsoft announced its purchase of Nokia's mobile devi ...
(Asia and Oceania, March 2013),
Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design lan ...
(July 2013),
Firefox OS Firefox OS (project name: ''Boot to Gecko'', also known as ''B2G'') is a discontinued open-source operating system made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on the ...
(February 2014),
IPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product ...
(October 2014) and as a Chrome Browser Application (via the
Chrome Web Store Chrome Web Store is Google's online store for its Chrome web browser. As of 2019, Chrome Web Store hosts about 190,000 extensions and web apps. History Chrome Web Store was publicly unveiled in December 2010, and was opened on February 11, 20 ...
). The application also exists in versions for laptop and desktop computers using the
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
and
MacOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
platforms.. In July 2016, Line Corporation held IPOs on both the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
and the
Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed ...
. In late December 2020, Line Corporation delisted from both the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, in advance of its absorption-type merger agreement with Z Holdings. On March 1, 2021, Line Corporation merged with
Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese internet company originally formed as a joint venture between the American internet company Yahoo! (later divested by Verizon into Altaba) and the Japanese company SoftBank. It is headquartered at Kioi Tower in the Tokyo Garden Te ...
, which has been operated by Z Holdings, a
SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
subsidiary. Under the new structure,
Naver Corporation The Naver Corporation is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Seongnam that operates the search engine Naver. Naver established itself as an early pioneer in the use of user-generated content through the creation of the online ...
(Line's former parent company) and SoftBank Corp (the wireless carrier unit of SoftBank Group). Each one hold 50% stakes in a new company named A Holdings Corp., which holds a majority stake in Z Holdings, which now operates Line and Yahoo! Japan. Upon integrating the two businesses and creating further platforms, the merged company aims to compete with the U.S. tech giants: Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple and the Chinese tech giants
Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...
,
Alibaba Ali Baba (character), Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''. Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to: Films * Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902 film), ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1902 film), a F ...
and
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
, as well as the Japanese e-commerce giant
Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicati ...
. The merger also gives Z Holdings three additional Asian markets where Line is popular: Taiwan,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.


Market share

Line began in Spring 2011 as a communication system for NHN Japan employees. It then saw explosive growth when released to the public in June of that year. By 18 January 2013, Line had been downloaded 100 million times worldwide. The number expanded to 140 million by early July 2013 and to 200 million by July 21. As of June 2016, Japan claimed 68 million users while Thailand had 33 million. As of February 2014, Indonesia had 20 million users, Taiwan 17 million, while India and Spain had 16 million each. NHN representatives announced plans to reach 300 million by further expansion in East Asia,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. In April 2014, Naver announced that Line had reached 400 million worldwide users and by 2017 this had grown to 700 million.


Features

Line is an application that works on multiple platforms and has access via multiple personal computers (Microsoft Windows or MacOS). The application will also give an option of address book syncing. This application also has a feature to add friends through the use of QR codes by Line ID and by shaking phones simultaneously. The application has a direct pop-out message box for reading and replying to make it easy for users to communicate. It also can share photos, videos and music with other users, send the current or any specific: locations, voice audios, emojis, stickers and emoticons to friends. Users can see a real-time confirmation when messages are sent and received or use a hidden chat feature, which can hide and delete a chat history (from both involved devices and Line servers) after a time set by the user. The application also makes free voice and video calls. Users can also chat and share media in a group by creating and joining groups that have up to 500 people. Chats also provide bulletin boards on which users can post, like and comment. This application also has timeline and homepage features that allow users to post pictures, text and stickers on their homepages. Users can also change their Line theme to the theme Line provides in the theme shop for free or users can buy other famous cartoon characters they like. Line also has a feature, called a Snap movie, that users can use to record a stop-motion video and add in provided background music. In January 2015, ''Line Taxi'' was released in Tokyo as a competitor to
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
. Line launched a new android app called "Popcorn buzz" in June 2015. The app facilitates group calls with up to 200 members. In June a new Emoji keyboard was also released for IOS devices, which provides a Line-like experience with the possibility to add stickers. In September 2015 a new Android launcher was released on the Google Play Store, helping the company to promote its own services through the new user interface.


Official channels

Line includes a feature known as "official channels" which allows companies, especially news media outlets, publications and other mass media companies to offer an official channel which users can join and thereby receive regular updates, published articles or news updates from companies or news outlets.


Stickers

Line features a Sticker Shop where users are able to purchase virtual stickers depicting original and well-known characters. The stickers are used during chat sessions between users and act as large
emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversat ...
. Users can purchase stickers as gifts, with many stickers available as free downloads, depending on country availability. Purchased stickers are attached to an account and can be used on other platforms. New sticker sets are released weekly. Line's message stickers feature original characters as well as a number of popular
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
,
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
and gaming characters, movie tie-ins and characters from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
properties such as
Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
. Some sticker sets, such as those that celebrate special events like the 2012 Summer Olympics, are released for only a limited time. The original default characters and stickers, known as
Line Friends Line Friends (stylized as LINE FRIENDS) are featured characters, invented by South Korean designer Kang Byeong Mok, based on the stickers from diverse applications of the South Korean internet search giant Naver Corporation and the Japanese mes ...
, were created by Kang Byeongmok, also known as "Mogi", in 2011. There are over 1 billion stickers sent by worldwide users on a daily basis. The popular characters Milk & Mocha began as stickers on Line in Indonesia.(15 July 2019)
Milk & Mocha, Stiker Karya Kreator Surabaya Ini Diluncurkan di Thailand dan Taiwan
''iniSURABAYA'' (in Indonesian)


Games

NHN Japan created Line Games in 2011. Only those with a Line application account can install and play the games. Players can connect with friends, send and accept items and earn friend points. The game range includes: puzzles, match-three, side-scroller, musical performance, simulation, battle and spot-the-difference games. In September 2013, Line Corporation announced its games had been downloaded 200 million times worldwide. On July 10, 2017, Line Games acquired NextFloor Corporation, developers of Dragon Flight and Destiny Child. On January 5, 2017, LINE Games was announced as the publisher for Hundred Soul (formerly known as Project 100) by Hound 13. On December 12, 2018, Line Games held a media event called LPG (Line Games-Play-Game) to introduce its games for 2019. Mobile games announced include: Exos Heroes (by OOZOO), Ravenix: The Card Master (also by OOZOO), Dark Summoners (by SkeinGlobe), Project PK (by Rock Square) and Super String (by Factorial Games). Project NM by Space Dive was also announced for PC. Games to be released on mobile and PC include: Project NL (by MeerKat Games) and Uncharted Waters Origins (by Line Games and
Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Game ...
). On 10 Jul 2019,
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
released Dr. Mario World co-developed by Line Games. On July 18, 2019, First Summoner developed by SkeinGlobe was released.


Line Pay

Line introduced Line Pay worldwide on December 16, 2014. The service allows users to request and send money from users in their contact list and make mobile payments in store. The service has since expanded to allow other features such as offline wire transfers when making purchases and ATM transactions like depositing and withdrawing money. Unlike other Line services, Line Pay is offered worldwide through the Line app.


Line Taxi

Line Taxi was launched in January 2015 in partnership with Nihon Kotsu, a local
taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
service in Japan. Just like Line Pay, Line Taxi is not offered as a separate app but rather through the Line app where users can request a taxi and automatically pay for it when they connect their account to Line Pay.


Line Wow

Announced alongside Line Pay and Line Taxi, a service that allows users to instantly access delivery services for registered food or products and services.


Line Today

A news hub integrated in the Line app.


Line Shopping

A referral program for online shopping. Customers get extra discount or earn Line Points by purchasing through the Line Shopping service.


Line Gift

A gift sending services on Line. Customers can send gift via Line.


Line Doctor

A matching platform for finding doctors online.


Line Lite

In 2015, a lower-overhead Android app was released for
emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...
s called Line Lite. This supports messages and calls but not themes or timeline. It became available worldwide in August 2015. In January 2022 Line announced the discontinuation of Line Lite, taking effect on the 28th February 2022.


Limitations

Line accounts can be accessed on only one mobile device (running the app version) or one personal computer (running the version for these). Additional mobile devices can install the app but require different mobile numbers or e-mail addresses for the Line account. If "Line Lite" for Android was installed and activated, the user was told they will be "logged out of the normal Line". This message did not make clear that it was impossible to log back in to the normal Line, which would delete all history data when next launched. Line Lite has now been discontinued.


Security

In August 2013, it was possible to intercept a Line chat session at the network level using packet capture software and to reconstruct it on a PC. Messages were sent in clear text to Line's server when on cellular data but encrypted when using Wi-Fi most of the time. Until February 2016, it was also possible to "clone" an iPhone from a backup and then use the "cloned" iPhone to access the same Line account as used by the original iPhone. This loophole was widely rumored (but never proven) to have been used to intercept Line messages between the popular Japanese television personality Becky and her married romantic partner
Enon Kawatani , known by the stage name , is a Japanese musician. He is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the bands Gesu no Kiwami Otome, Indigo la End, Genie High, the instrumental band Ichikoro, and also works as a songwriter for other musicians. ...
; the intercepted messages were published in the magazine ''
Shukan Bunshun A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are oft ...
'' and led to the temporary suspension of Becky's television career. In July 2016, Line Corporation turned on
end-to-end encryption End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers, Internet providers, malicious actors, and even ...
by default for all Line users. It had earlier been available as an opt-in feature since October 2015. The app uses the ECDH protocol for client-to-client encryption. In August 2016, Line expanded its end-to-end encryption to also encompass its group chats, voice calls and video calls. In March 2021, the Japanese government announced that it would investigate Line after reports that it let Chinese system-maintenance engineers in Shanghai access Japanese users' data without informing them, beginning in August 2018. Four Chinese engineers in a
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
-based affiliate that Line subcontracted to develop AI accessed the messages stored in the Japanese computer system and personal information of Line users, such as: name, phone number, email address and Line ID. Photos and video footage posted by Japanese users were also stored on a server in South Korea. Line stated in March 2021 that it had since blocked access to user data at the Chinese affiliate and that it would revise its privacy policy and make it more explicit. Line had been used by the Japanese government and local governments to notify residents about developments in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. In response to the reports of security issues, the national government and many local governments halted their usage of Line in late March 2021. In April 2021 the government ordered Line to take measures to properly protect customers' information and to report improvement measures within a month. Line also relocated image and other data stored in South Korea to Japan. As of November 2021, the Tokyo metropolitan government offers proof of COVID-19 vaccinations through the Line app, with expansion planned for other prefectures. On 12 April 2021, Line suffered a large-scale crash in Taiwan. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Roman Matovsky hacked the company's servers because of a personal conflict with the company. He wrote about it on his personal blog shortly after the platform's services resumed, asserting why and what he claimed happened and additionally left comments consistent with this in his social network profiles, which he subsequently removed the next day. More than 70,000 LINE Pay users in Taiwan have been affected by a leak of transaction information during the period from December 26, 2020, to April 2, 2021.


Censorship

Line suppressed content in China to conform with government
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. Analysis by
Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...
showed that accounts registered with Chinese phone numbers download a list of banned words that cannot be sent or received through Line. Line publicly confirmed the practice in December 2013. However, by 2014, access to Line chat servers has been entirely blocked by the
Great Firewall The Great Firewall (''GFW''; ) is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected for ...
, while the company still makes revenue in China from brick-and-mortar stores. In Indonesia, Line has responded to pressure from the Indonesian Communication and Information Ministry to remove emojis and stickers it believes make reference to homosexuality, for example the emoji "two men holding hands". Line issued a public statement on the issue:"Line regrets the incidents of some stickers which are considered sensitive by many people. We ask for your understanding because at the moment we are working on this issue to remove the stickers". In Thailand, Line is suspected of responding to pressure from the Thai government and, after previously approving 'Red Buffalo' stickers, which had been used to refer to the Red Shirts political faction, including by the Red Shirts themselves, removed the stickers. In Russia, on 28 April 2017, Russia's
Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...
, placed LINE on a banned list. Telecommunications companies appear to have taken steps in May to progressively block access to LINE and other services using smartphones. The Russian Internet Regulation Law obliges social network operators to store personal information of their Russian customers in the country and submit it if requested by the authorities; LINE is believed to have been found to be in breach of this provision. According to reports, BBM, Imo.im and Vchat have been newly added to the list of banned services, in addition to LINE. On 3 May 2017 access to Line chat servers was entirely blocked by the Roskomnadzor and the Line servers were added to the Unified Register of Banned Sites, after which Russian users began to experience problems receiving and sending messages.


In popular culture

On November 20, 2012, Line was shown in
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 2003 and as of August 2018 consists of Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), DJ Virman (Vi ...
's music video, featuring
Sidney Samson Sidney V. Samson (born 2 October 1981) is a Dutch people, Dutch disc jockey, DJ. He is best known for his track, Riverside (song), Riverside, which was released in 2009. Career Samson started DJing at the age of 13, focusing on hip hop music be ...
, for the song "Change Your Life". DJ Virman is seen chatting with Sidney Samson at the middle of the music video. On December 16, 2012, the Line application was shown in American rap artist
Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...
's music video for the song "
Guap "Guap" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Big Sean, released on October 26, 2012, as the lead single from his second studio album '' Hall of Fame'' (2013). The song was produced by frequent collaborator Key Wane and Young Chop with ...
". On May 16, 2014,
Warner Music Italy Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels * Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Re ...
released the music video for Italian singer
Annalisa Annalisa Scarrone (born 5 August 1985) better known as simply Annalisa or Nali, is an Italian singer-songwriter, Record producer and TV personality. After being part of two bands, ''Elaphe Guttata'' and ''leNoire'' (Ex Malvasia), she became famou ...
's "Sento solo il presente", in which the recording artist is seen using the Line application at the beginning of the video. Since Line has become ubiquitous in Japan, its usage is depicted with relative frequency in anime, dramas, and other pop culture. For example, in the 2017 anime ''
Tsuki ga Kirei is a Japanese romance anime television series produced by Feel. It originally aired from April 6 to June 29, 2017. Crunchyroll has licensed the series in North America. As a coming-of-age contemporary romance, the story follows the lives of t ...
'', the Line app is the protagonists' main way of communication.


Related products


Line Friends

Line Friends Line Friends (stylized as LINE FRIENDS) are featured characters, invented by South Korean designer Kang Byeong Mok, based on the stickers from diverse applications of the South Korean internet search giant Naver Corporation and the Japanese mes ...
are featured characters that are shown in stickers of the application. They include Brown, Cony, Sally, James, Moon, Boss, Jessica, Edward, Leonard, Choco, Pangyo and Rangers. Two anime series, ''Line Offline'' and ''Line Town'', were produced in 2013, picturing the Line Friends as employees for the fictional Line Corporation.


Line Man

On-demand assistant for food and messenger delivery services in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
.


Line TV

A video on demand service operating in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.


Stores

There are physical stores in Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, U.S. and a Korean online store to purchase Line Friends merchandise. Occasionally, Line will have pop-up or temporary stores globally.


See also

*
Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols. Clients that use the same protocol can typically federate and talk to one another. The following table compares gener ...
*
Comparison of instant messaging protocols The following is a comparison of instant messaging protocols. It contains basic general information about the protocols. Table of instant messaging protocols See also * Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients *Comparison of Int ...
*
Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of notable IRC client programs which have been discussed in independent, reliable prior published sources. General Basic general information about the notablecl ...
*
Comparison of LAN messengers The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable LAN messengers. General information Basic general information about the LAN messengers: creator/company, license/price, among others. Operating system suppo ...
*
Comparison of VoIP software This is a comparison of voice over IP (VoIP) software used to conduct telephone-like voice conversations across Internet Protocol (IP) based networks. For residential markets, voice over IP phone service is often cheaper than traditional public swi ...
*
List of SIP software This list of SIP software documents notable software applications which use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as a voice over IP (VoIP) protocol. Servers Free and open-source license A SIP server, also known as a SIP proxy, mana ...
*
List of video telecommunication services and product brands This list of video telecommunication services and product brands is for groupings of notable video telecommunication services, brands of videophones, webcams and video conferencing hardware and systems, all related to videotelephony for two-way co ...


References


External links

* {{Naver Android (operating system) software IOS software Mobile payments BlackBerry software SoftBank Group Symbian software Instant messaging clients Cross-platform software Communication software VoIP software Windows Phone software 2011 software Universal Windows Platform apps