Japan has decided to combat cyberbullying, as online insults will now be punishable by one year in prison.
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Insulting someone online in Japan is set to bring much more severe penalties from this summer after new legislation was passed by the country's parliament.
As CNN, the existing punishment for online insults may already be considered by some to be quite severe, as a person can be jailed for up to 30 days and fined up to $75. However, the new legislation significantly increases these limits, with the maximum penalty now being one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,200.
Japan defines insults as “publicly degrading someone’s social status without reference to specific facts about them or a specific action,” according to the Ministry of Justice. It is treated differently from defamation under Japan’s criminal code.
The movement to amend the country's penal code with harsher punishmentswas further fueled when Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old professional wrestler and star of the hit Netflix reality show Terrace House, committed suicide in 2020 after receiving a wave of hateful comments on social media.
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Kimura's death brought the issue of cyberbullying back to the forefront in Japan due to the highly visible and toxic nature of the abuse she had experienced. Two men who posted insults on accounts shortly before her death, saying, "Does your life have any value?" and "Hey, when are you going to die?", were each fined 9,000 yen.
At the time, Sanae Takaichi , Japan's Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, pledged to "accelerate" government discussions on cyberbullying legislation
This update to the penal code appears to be the end result of this rapid response, but not everyone agrees. Seiho Cho, a criminal lawyer based in Japan, pointed out that there is no clear definition of what constitutes an insult, meaning it could be abused quite easily and successfully in court. Others have suggested that it could stifle free speech and limit criticism of those in power.
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With this in mind, the legislation was only able to pass when a provision was added to review the law in three years.
