Be Careful, Online Insults In Japan Can Get A Sentence Of 1 Year In Prison And A Fine Of IDR 33 Million

Cyberbullying will get serious punishment in Japan.(photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA – The Japanese government has finally passed a new law on online content. Posting "online insults" can carry a penalty of up to a year in prison in the country starting Thursday, July 7.

Those convicted of online insults can also be fined up to 300,000 yen (IDR 33 million). Previously, the sentence was less than 30 days in prison and a fine of up to 10,000 yen (IDR 1 million).

The law will be reviewed in the next three years to determine whether it has any impact on freedom of expression. The reason is because of the concerns raised by the critics of the bill. But supporters of the law say the law is necessary to slow cyberbullying in the country.

But according to Seiho Cho, a criminal lawyer in Japan, the law does not have a clear definition of what constitutes an insult. He told CNN that if the law simply says insults mean demeaning someone without any specific facts about them. This is as opposed to defamation, which is classified as demeaning someone while pointing out specific facts about them.

"Right now, even if someone calls Japan's leader an idiot, then maybe under the revised law it can be classed as an insult," Cho said, as quoted by The Verge.

Japanese officials are pushing for a crackdown on cyberbullying after reality television star Hana Kimura died by suicide, after being the target of online harassment. Her mother pushed for more anti-cyberbullying policies after her death.

Several studies have shown an association between suicidal behavior and cyberbullying, although most studies have been conducted on children and adolescents.

The UK also has laws criminalizing "highly offensive" public messages, and people have been arrested and fined for their offensive tweets.

The language in the law's policy is also ambiguous, and courts decide what constitutes "very" offensive on a case-by-case basis.