The Japanese Parliament approved, this Monday (13) a bill to toughen the penalty for cases of bullying over the internet, the so-called cyberbullying.
Discussion about tightening punishment for online insults gained traction following the suicide of Hana Kimura, 22, a professional wrestler and contestant on Netflix’s “Terrace House” reality show, in May 2020 after being targeted in targeted attacks. on social networks.
The bill increases the penalty for offenses uttered over the internet, currently stipulated in 30 days of detention or a fine of 10,000 yen (R$383), to one year in prison and a fine of 300,000 yen (R$11,500), according to the Kyodo news agency. The statute of limitations for the crime also increases from one to three years.
The bill that amends the Penal Code was approved this Monday by the Chamber of Councilors, the equivalent of the Senate, after passing through the Chamber of Representatives, the equivalent of the Chamber of Deputies of the National Diet, as the Japanese Parliament is called.
There was criticism from the main opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, that the change could be used to clamp down on freedom of expression and curb legitimate demonstrations against politicians. However, the bill managed to pass after an agreement between the subtitles stipulated a reassessment of the new legislation three years from now, according to the news agency.
Hana’s suicide shocked the country and had international repercussions. From a family of professional wrestlers, the young woman had been competing until she was invited to participate in the famous reality show shown by Netflix, a kind of better-behaved big brother, in which young people share a house in Tokyo.
Criticized for her participation in the show, she became the target of online harassment and even wrote on social media that she was saddened by the hundreds of hateful messages she was receiving every day.
Shortly after, she was found dead. At the time, two men, who lived in the cities of Osaka and Fukui, were fined 9,000 yen (R$345) each for comments they had made on the fighter’s social media. After criticism that the penalty was too lenient, Parliament began to come under pressure to change the legislation.
One of the most vocal voices for the change in the law was the young woman’s mother, Kyoko, who said that she herself continued to receive hateful messages on the internet with accusations that she used her daughter’s name to promote herself. The TV show has since been suspended.
