Japanese Government Proposes Regulation of the Internet

The Internet is thus far a largely unregulated venue for exchanging information. Some governments are none too happy about it. Japan is the latest, and Japanese citizens may soon find content "filtered."

In a bid to regulate "influential, widely read news-related sites,” a panel of the Japanese government has proposed holding Internet Service Providers responsible for content, as reported by The International Herald Tribune. The current political persuasion of the government has enjoyed power for several decades, complete with a very positive relationship with the media. Such a relationship clearly has advantages, yet the Internet has given voice to those whom are not as cozy with the government. The Japanese government states that it simply wants to protect people from content that may be “illegal and harmful,” in much the same way that mobile services are censored when users are under the age of eighteen. However, critics claim that it isn’t only adult content that is prohibited and that political and religious content is also being filtered. Some fear that this will be the case if new Internet regulations are put in place as well. The government also cites libelous material, but as has been explained in other areas considering regulation of the Internet, libel laws should be sufficient. Perhaps such laws should be expanded to cover cyber libel, but many believe that it isn't about libel at all, but about censorship. On the other hand, there isn’t as much protest as some might expect. Chris Salzburg of Global Voices, observes and translates international blogs, and finds it curious that Japanese bloggers don’t seem to be paying much attention. Are they unaware of such proposals? Perhaps they don’t believe something like this will get very far. Keep in mind that It doesn't take much for "minimum regulations" to become censorship if the citizenry isn't vigilant.