Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Docomo, KDDI, and SoftBank all launched commercial fifth-generation (5G) services in March 2020.3 There are periodic reports of arrests under the copyright law, which carries possible prison terms for both uploading and downloading content without the permission of the copyright owner (see C2). In this case, a man asked Google to remove search results documenting a crime he committed over five years earlier.11 While the censorship and oppression Imperial Japan committed against journalists and the Japanese left pales in comparison to its actions and cover-ups in countries such as China, Korea and the Philippines, it should nonetheless be publicized and confronted. competitors and others criticized the acquisition, saying it was contrary to the intent of the 1999 NTT Law. I know they sold 2 different versions of RE games at least, a more censored version and a less censored version for adults. Article 3. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional. Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? The UNs special rapporteur for privacy noted ahead of the laws passage that in order to establish the existence and the extent of such a planning and preparatory actions, it is logical to assume that those charged would have had to be subjected to a considerable level of surveillance beforehand.7, Under a wiretap law enacted in 2000, law enforcement agents may seek a court order to conduct electronic surveillance in criminal investigations involving drugs, firearms, human trafficking, or organized murders, in an exception to articles of other laws that explicitly forbid wiretapping.8 Specifically, the government will consolidate personal information among local government and central government servers, and will link personal data to individuals unique 12-digit numbers.9, During the drafting process, it became clear that the government's priority was to effectively manage internet users information rather than to protect personal data.10 Service providers and other technology companies can be required to aid the government in monitoring the communications of their users. Ahead of the Okinawa gubernatorial election in September 2018, misinformation again spread online.4 In June 2020, Japan passed amendments to the Act on the Protection of Personal Information. Outstanding challenges include ethnic and gender-based discrimination and claims of improperly close relations between government and the business sector. The panel allegedly suspended its efforts to draft the legislation in October 2018 after failing to reach consensus on whether the blocking would violate the constitutional right to secrecy of communications.5, ISPs voluntarily filter child sexual abuse images, and many offer parents the option to filter certain other content to protect young internet users.6 Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? A number of laws regulate online activity, including by imposing civil and criminal liability. In November 2018, the amended Telecommunications Business Act and the Act on the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) came into effect.3 The Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets came into force in 2014, despite objections from the opposition, civil society, and protesters. At the end of the coverage period, the government had not taken steps to restrict use of the platform. Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/revuwuPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/RevsaysdesuTwitter: ht. An online petition in support of the journalist also gathered more than 17,000 signatures.10. If a device is successfully hacked, its owner will be advised to strengthen security measures, for instance by making their passwords more complex. Some private companies occasionally accept the governments requests to remove content. The society at large prefers harmony, and people avoid criticizing the role of Japans emperor, especially when connected with historical events like World War II. Access is well distributed across the population, though access is less common among the elderly.4 Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? However, in June 2018, Okamoto Kenichiro, known as Hagex online, was murdered in Fukuoka after presenting a seminar on best practices to deal with online disagreements and abuse, among other topics.7 In recent years, content removals have focused on hate speech and illegal content, including child sexual abuse images and intimate images shared without the subjects consent. These included interactive maps to share public information about disaster relief,1 The Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the People, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power. Under the criminal procedure code, however, investigators can order a person to decrypt an encrypted electronic record.2, Increased concerns over harassment, intimidation, and slander during the previous coverage period led members of the ruling LDP to meet with experts to discuss the possibility of deanonymizing the accounts of those who engage in such behavior online. While both uploading and downloading pirated material was already illegal under the copyright law, with uploaders subject to 10 years imprisonment or fines of up to 10 million ($90,692), the version in effect since 2012 added two years in jail or fines of up to 2 million ($18,138) for downloading a single pirated file.4, In response to the attempted blocking of manga piracy sites in early 2018 (see B1), the Cultural Council of the Cultural Affairs Agency discussed amending the copyright law to expand the types of content that would be illegal to download or reproduce beyond pirated music and videos, to include material such as social media posts showing animated characters or personal blogs with icons containing copyrighted images.5 In 2007, the MIC ordered mobile service providers to install filtering software that would enable parents to control the content seen by their children. In January 2021, the revised Copyright Act, which criminalizes the downloading of unlicensed manga, magazines, and academic publications, took effect. In June 2008, the law was amended to prohibit the transfer of SIM cards without permission and to require rental companies to verify the identity of customers.1, There are no explicit restrictions on encryption. Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and its toll on everyday life, the country has transitioned to new political leadership. The Imperial Throne shall be dynastic and succeeded to in accordance with the Imperial House Law passed by the Diet. Under the amended law, overseas companies are also obligated to notify the government of data breaches that involve sensitive information, cause financial injury, or affect more than 1,000 users. In one significant instance, government officials and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) withheld data about pollution after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The server is misbehaving. Ensafi's team found that censorship is increasing in 103 of the countries studied, including unexpected places like Norway, Japan, Italy, India, Israel and Polandcountries which the paper notes are rated as some of the freest in the world by advocacy group Freedom House. As 2021 nears its close, a spasm of book banning has spread surprisingly quickly among state and local officials. There are concerns that disclosure requests will be misused as a means to suppress the transmission of information.4. As of 2021, the internet penetration rate for households stood at 93 percent.2, Providers continue to develop telecommunications infrastructure, in part to alleviate mobile network congestion. The Act on Prevention of Improper Use of Mobile Phones (2005) requires mobile voice communication carriers to verify the identity of subscribers when a contract was terminated or transferred, in order to prevent a situation in which cell phone subscribers cannot be identified. The East Asia Summit which includes the 10 ASEAN members plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States issued several statements in 2021, including one on Women, Peace, and Security, noting the importance of women's roles to addressing root causes of terrorism. Many people lost service for days or weeks, and mobile phone usage dropped by almost half in the affected areas.10. No major incidents of physical violence related to peoples online activity were reported during the coverage period, though incidents of online harassment and intimidation, particularly against women, individuals with at least one Black parent, and medical personnel, did occur (see C7). One thing that's quickly noticeable is how Japanese adult videos are censored. Amendments passed by the Diet in 2015 defined personal information in more specific terms as biometric information and numeric data that is capable of identifying a specific individual.5 The court stated that removal of information can be demanded only when privacy protection concerns clearly outweigh the publics interest in the disclosure of information online.12 Osakas ordinance authorized the public identification of groups that disseminate hate speech, defined as communication which defames and aims to exclude a particular group based on race or ethnicity, including through online transmission, according to news reports.16 LINE reported that 80 percent of the global law enforcement requests for user data that it received between July and December 2020 came from Japanese entities. In this scenario, an ISP could give the complainant information to identify the postersuch as their name or IP addresswithout that persons consent, raising privacy concerns. A 2012 legal revision targeting copyright violators applies to any internet users who download content they know has been illegally copied, as opposed to just those engaged in piracy for commercial gain.3 But in the eyes of . Germany, which has. Hana Kimura was subject to harassment, primarily because of her gender, after she appeared on the reality television show "Terrace House. In May 2020, Kimura committed suicide. Changes to broadcasting laws in 1950 prohibited the government from direct interference with programmingthough its board of governors is still appointed by the prime minister and its budget approved by the Dietand permitted the establishment of private commercial broadcasting stations. Reasons vary from keeping inappropriate material out of reach to trying to stop protests and other public demonstrations from being organized. Scientifically speaking, it depends on how the original censorship mosaic . The city has considered measures to deal with online hate speech, but did not implement a specific ordinance to address this activity. A new player, e-commerce company Rakuten, which seeks to become Japans fourth major mobile service provider, launched its mobile service in April 2020.2. The IHCs website offers online forms for reporting objectionable content, such as material that features obscene images, child sexual abuse images, illegal drugs, or prostitution, as well as a referencing system that allows users to look up the status of submitted reports. Facebook reported 66 government requests involving 82 accounts between July and December 2020. Access to the internet remains relatively equal across different segments of the population. Update: February 8, 2022 A ccess Now and civil society organizations from across the globe are calling on the international community and technology companies to stand with the people of Myanmar and resist the coup both physical and digital. Article 2. Asymmetric regulation, which creates stricter rules for providers with a higher market share, has helped diversify the industry.6, Beginning in 2014, the government required mobile service providers to unlock SIM cards at user request; this has made it easier for users to switch providers and use third-party prepaid SIM cards.7 A 2016 law outlined measures that authorities could take to educate the public about hate speech, while also combating such speech when directed against people of overseas origin and their descendants.4 Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? The book concludes by assessing the current state of censorship in Japan and likely future developments. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has governed almost continuously since 1955, with stints in opposition from 1993 to 1994 and 2009 to 2012. Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users right to privacy? You will go to prison. Do online journalists, commentators, and ordinary users practice self-censorship? Under the guidelines, anyone can report material that infringes directly on their personal rights to the service provider, either to have it removed or to find out who posted it. 2 The law was passed in June 2020 and took effect in January 2021.7, A 2013 revision of the Public Offices Election Act lifted long-standing restrictions on the use of the internet for election campaigns. the use of Googles Person Finder web application to facilitate rescue and recovery,2 In February 2020, the Defense Ministry reported that some sensitive information may have been leaked as the result of the Mitsubishi breach.8 Cyberattacks occasionally target civil society and private companies, although none were reported during the coverage period. 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