Japan’s parliament passed a bill on June 13 that makes online insults a crime punishable by jail time, following calls for harsher punishment spurred by the suicide of a female wrestler who was cyberbullied.
The bill, approved by the upper house of a plenary session, amends Japan’s penal code to include one-year imprisonment and fines of up to 300,000 yen ($2,234), as opposed to the current 30 days in jail and 10,000 yen ($75) fine.
The new law will be reviewed within three years to assess if it violates the right to free speech.
Japan’s lawmakers began debating tougher penalties for cyberbullying in January, following the case of Hana Kimura, a 22-year-old professional wrestler who took her own life on May 23, 2020, after being inundated with negative comments on social media.
Kimura, who was Indonesian–Japanese, drew attention online after upbraiding a housemate for ruining one of her wrestling costumes. She was also insulted for her appearance, with many posts calling her ugly.
The show was subsequently canceled on May 27, 2020, after her death.
Two men were charged with insulting Kimura on social media and were fined 9,000 yen ($67) respectively. But many expressed concerns that the penalties were too light and called for harsher punishments.
Japan’s government data showed the number of reported cyber bullying cases at schools more than doubled in the past four years.
