Explained: Why Japan’s Parliament has made ‘online insults’ punishable by one year in prison
The development comes two years after professional wrestler and reality show star Hana Kimura took her own life after becoming the target of massive bullying on social media
File image of Hana Kimura.
On Monday, Japan’s Parliament made “online insults” punishable by imprisonment of up to a year.
The legislation which comes after a rise in public concern over cyberbullying will allow offenders convicted of online insults to be jailed for up to one year, or fined 300,000 yen.
This is a far more drastic consequence than the existing punishment of detention for less than 30 days and a fine of up to 10,000 yen.
Let’s examine why this has been done:
As per Japan Times, this development comes in the wake of the suicide of Hana Kimura, a professional wrestler and star of Netflix reality show Terrace House.
The death of the 22-year-old Kimura in 2020, hit the headlines and shocked many.
Kimura became the target of massive bullying on social media over her role on the “Terrace House” show on Netflix, which involves three men and three women temporarily living together at a shared house in Tokyo. The show was temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus and then later cancelled.
As per CBS, before her suicide, Kimura tweeted that she received about a hundred hateful messages every day and she was hurt by them.
Her last Instagram posts were a photo of herself and her cat, with a message saying “Goodbye” and another saying “I love you, live long and happy. I’m sorry.”
Kimura, whose mother Kyoko was also a famous pro-wrestler, performed at a sold-out Madison Square Garden event by Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
Kyoko has been campaigning for stronger anti-bullying laws in the wake of her daughter’s death, as well as founding the “Remember Hana” organisation.
After Kimura’s passing, two men in Osaka and Fukui prefectures were fined ¥9,000 each (approximately $86) for posting online insults about her, as per Japan Times.
One man also reportedly apologised to her family.
Japan’s penal code
Under Japan’s penal code, insults are defined as publicly demeaning someone’s social standing without referring to specific facts about them or a specific action, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice.
The crime is different to defamation, defined as publicly demeaning someone while pointing to specific facts.
Both are punishable under the law.
While supporters of the bill say tougher legislation is needed, critics including the main Opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and others say the law could stifle legitimate criticism of politicians and public officials.
However, the law went into effect with one provisio — that it will be re-examined three years after it goes into effect to gauge its impact on freedom of expression.
Speaking to CNN, Seiho Cho, a Japan-based criminal lawyer, warned that the revised law gave no classification of what constitutes an insult.
“There needs to be a guideline that makes a distinction on what qualifies as an insult,” Cho said. “For example, at the moment, even if someone calls the leader of Japan an idiot, then maybe under the revised law that could be classed as an insult.”
With inputs from agencies
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