Mandatory camera shutter sound

A mandatory camera shutter sound is a sound played while taking a picture, which can not be turned off by the device owner. As of 2026, Japan and South Korea require mobile phones sold within the country to play a shutter sound when a picture is taken. It can not even be turned off by putting the device into "muted" or "do not disturb" mode.

Before becoming a law in Japan, it was originally required by the country's mobile carriers.

Background

The stated intention of the law is to prevent men from taking sexualized photographs of women in public places without their knowledge (which possibly is associated with the high rates of male celibacy in those countries), however, the number of people who engage in such behaviour is disproportionately small compared to the millions who are negatively affected by the mandatory shutter sound.

This includes visitors of quiet halls such as libraries, museums, cathedrals, and theatre halls, where a shutter sound would usually be heard in large parts of the hall and create a nuisance for every visitor within the range of the sound.

It is also noted that this requirement does not prevent dedicated users from modifying their device to forcibly disable the sound regardless, while collaterally annoying the vast majority of users, who don't covertly take sexualized photographs but lack the expertise to jump through the technical hoops to mute the shutter sound.

Survey

A 2023 survey answered by 3,476 South Koreans revealed that an overwhelming 86% would prefer mobile phones to have the ability to mute the camera sound.