Overview
- Chinese authorities searched the suspect’s residence in Guangxi in November 2025, seizing computers and examining server and operational records.
- The suspect admitted to running Bato.to and roughly 60 related sites and has been released on bail with formal indictment expected.
- All linked domains were briefly kept online to preserve evidence before being fully shut down by January 19, 2026, according to CODA.
- CODA reports about 350 million visits across the network in May 2025 and approximately 7.2 billion visits between October 2022 and October 2025.
- The organization estimates economic harm at around 770 billion yen (about $5.1 billion), with peak advertising revenue to the operator exceeding roughly $55,000 per month, set against broader reported losses and planned AI tools to detect stolen manga.