Japan: New Internet regulation bill sparks reactions from bloggers · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

A new legislative bill aiming to regulate access to “harmful” web content by minors (under age 18), presented to a government panel on March 19th by LDP member Takaichi Sanae (高市早苗), has sparked criticism from Japanese bloggers. Apparently worded by Japan's National Police Agency, the new bill proposes to make ISPs responsible for preventing minors from accessing content that is deemed “harmful”, a definition which includes categories such as “same-sex lifestyle” [ja]. Blogger  Mishima Sakana [ja] notes there has been virtually no mainstream coverage of the bill. Blogger Ikeda Nobuo points out that a new bill proposed by the opposition DPJ is nearly identical to the LDP bill [ja], and that the two parties will likely cooperate on regulation legislation. A wrap-up of blog conversations on the bill is provided by blogger Nobuo Sakiyama [ja], and blogger essa offers some closing words of advice [ja].