Japan: Up to 1 year in prison for those who offend online

The renewed law is put into effect

Earlier this summer, the Japanese government passed a new law, which deals with insults on the internet, and it goes into effect today, Thursday, July 7th. So, according to the new legislation, publishing insults on the internet will be punishable by a prison sentence of up to 1 year! In fact, those convicted of online insults may also be fined up to ¥300,000 (about €2,160).

At this point it is worth noting that there was a similar law in the land of the rising sun before, however the prison sentence reached a maximum of thirty days and the fine reached 10,000 yen (about 70 euros). However, the government has now decided to toughen its stance considerably, with supporters of the new legislation stressing that it is necessary to reduce cyberbullying in the country.

Of course, as criminal lawyer Seiho Cho pointed out speaking to CNN , the problem is that at the moment it is not clearly defined what constitutes “insult” and what does not.

Right now, even if someone calls Japan’s leader an idiot, then under the revised law that would probably qualify as an insult.

As you can imagine, there was immediate backlash and it was confirmed that the law will be reviewed in three years to see if it affects freedom of expression or not.

For the record, Japanese officials started the debate on cracking down on cyberbullying after the death of Hana Kimura, a reality TV star who committed suicide. Kimura had suffered online abuse, with her mother subsequently pushing for more anti-cyberbullying policies.