Japanese Government Should Intervene in Internet Slander Problem

There is a constant stream of slander and hate speech posted on social networking sites that are legally considered defamation. Japanese government, SNS operators, and providers (connection providers) should take serious measures to protect the human rights of victims while respecting “freedom of expression” and “secrecy of communication” as stipulated in the Constitution. The number of cases of online human rights violations handled by Japan’s Ministry of Justice has remained high at around 2,000 over the past few years, and this has become a social problem.

It takes time for victims of slander and other forms of defamation to identify anonymous posters. When suing for damages, a person must first go through a court procedure to request the social networking service provider to disclose the IP address of the sender, and after the disclosure, the next step is to request the provider to disclose the The two-step court process requires the disclosure of name and address information. The revised Provider Liability Limitation Law will come into effect this fall, which will require only one court proceeding, but some legal experts believe that it will only shorten the procedure by one or two months.

However, in lawsuits seeking compensation for damages, the companies will not disclose whether they are the contributor or not, and the trials are expected to be protracted. The revised law will reduce the burden on victims, but it should be revised again as necessary to determine its effectiveness. A former employee of the U.S. major Facebook (now Meta) claimed last fall that the company willfully allowed content containing hatred, violence, and false information to spread in pursuit of profits. We understand that social networking service providers are cautious about deleting posts from the standpoint of “freedom of expression. At the same time, we would like to request that they strengthen warnings to users who repeatedly post offensive content and respond promptly to removal requests from victims.

The criteria must be clarified so that posting restrictions are not arbitrary or excessive. Of course, it should not be left entirely up to the operators. Users must always be aware of the magnitude of the impact of their own postings.

#CBSDigitalLiteracy