Japan strengthens its legal measures against cyberbullying

Japan is tightening its anti-cyberbullying law, although the first version is still controversial.

According to the text of a recently signed new amendment to the country’s penal code, insulting someone online could land a Japanese person in jail for a year. Following Hana Kimura’s suicide and a paltry 9,000 yen (about $81) fine imposed on one of the Terrace House star’s stalkers in 2020, members of the government began to think about tightening the country’s cyberbullying laws.

Japan tightens anti-cyberbullying law

Under the previous version of the Penal Code, the maximum penalty for posting insults online was a fine of 10,000 yen and 30 days in prison. Today, the law allows for a fine of up to 300,000 yen (about $2,200).

Despite public pressure on the government to crack down on cyberbullying, the law making the amendment has sparked fierce controversy. CNN reports that it was only passed after the majority Democratic Party added the possibility that the government could re-analyze the law in three years to examine its impact on free speech. As noted by The Verge, there are also concerns that this law is not specific enough about what falls into the category of insults.

However, the first version is still controversial.

The country’s criminal code defines insult as an attempt to belittle or humiliate someone without referring to any specific facts about them – defamation, on the other hand, includes reference to specific traits. “There should be a clear policy that distinguishes between what qualifies as an insult [and everything else],” Seiho Cho, a Japanese lawyer, told CNN. “Right now, even if someone calls the leader of Japan an idiot, according to this new law, perhaps it can be called an insult.”