Source: First post
News from this week suggests how Japan has ventured off to make online insults punishable by a maximum of a year in prison. Mainly, this is in an attempt to counter cyberbullying following a reality television star’s death, who had reportedly fallen victim to online abuse.
Prior to this, the maximum punishment for this crime of online insults was a detention of less than 30 days, or just a fine of below 10,000 yen ($75). The lawmakers passed the amendment to Japan’s penal on Monday, June 13. Moreover, it set to come into effect this summer itself, introducing the prison term and the increasing the maximum fine to 300,000 yen. Additionally, the stature of limitations on prosecution was increased from one year to three years.
This law also covers abuses occurring offline, however, they is a lower possibility of them to be subject to the harsher penalties. According to Ryuichi Nozaki, a senior partner at the Atsumi & Saki law firm based in Tokyo, noted that this would be as offline insults are disseminated to lesser people.
Last year, the couple of men who posted online insults about Kimura prior to her death were fined 9,000 yen each. Kimura’s mother, Kyoko, expressed how she pushed to solidify the law on cyberbullying as she thought the penalties were insufficient.
“I wanted people to know that this is a crime,” she said at a news conference Monday after the legislation was passed.
Further, she noted how if social media gets all the accusations for abusive behaviour, ‘nothing will change.’ Kyoko stated how the issue lies in the fact that people assume social media is the like of a ‘mirror that reflects the minds’ of its users.
Director of crisis hotline ‘Tell Lifeline’ in Japan, Vickie Skorji stated how compounding the bullying problem in Japan is ‘a stigma around’ mental health problems. In a video interview, she said how ‘a stricter sentence by itself’ is not a response, but the initiation ‘of conversation’ and a change in attitude is.
Legal experts, along with opponents of the legislation, have argued that this could possible have a profound impact on news media, or the public figures’ criticism. A fellow at the University of Essex, England’s Human Rights Centre, Sanae Fujita pointed out how ‘the definition of insultation’ is unclear. Hence, she said, a risk of the ‘abuse of this blanket clause’ would persist.
A provision was added for the effect of the law on free speech as a response to the concerns, which is set for a review in three years. Nozaki stated this alteration would possibly not have much effect on the media being able to criticise politicians or public figures legitimately. Essentially, he noted that the law considers insults and defamation separate insults in Japan, with this amendment only being relevant to insults.
“It is individuals who are not professional media that should be more aware of their responsibility to comment on the internet in a manner not damaging other persons’ reputation,” he said in an email.
