• New Penal Code increases internet insult penalties from $75 to $2,200.
• Before, the only punishment was 30 days in jail.
• From one year to three years, you can sue for an insult.

Japan has strong penalties for internet insults and cyberbullying. Thursday’s update aims to reduce online harassment and abuse.

The new Penal Code raises the fine for insulting someone online from less than $75 to $2,200. Before, the only punishment was 30 days in jail. The amount of time you have to file a lawsuit for an insult has been changed from one year to three years.

Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old professional wrestler and cast member of the popular Netflix reality TV show Terrace House, killed herself in May 2020. This caused the penalties to get worse. Kimura supposedly killed herself after getting a lot of mean messages online.

Before the wrestler died, insults were posted about her by two men from Osaka and Fukui. Each of them was fined 9,000 Yen (about $66). But a lot of people said the punishments were too low, which led to a change in the law about insults.

In October 2021, the Justice Ministry’s Legislative Council told Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa that punishments should be harsher. During this year’s National Diet session, the proposed change was brought up, and the bill was finally passed at a plenary session of the upper house on June 13.

At a press conference earlier this week, Furukawa said:

Implementing harsher punishments was important because it shows that the law considers cyberbullying to be a crime that should be dealt with harshly. It also works as a deterrent.

He also said that the move would not be “an unjustified restriction on freedom of expression.”

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