Japan enacts revised law targeting defamatory online posts

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's parliament on Friday enacted an amended law aimed at facilitating the swift removal of defamatory content on social media platforms like Facebook and X with more transparency.

The revised provider liability limitation law mandates the operators of such platforms to set up points of contact for accepting deletion requests and disclose criteria for removing posts, among other measures. It will take effect within a year.

Moves toward strengthening measures against online defamation gained traction after Hana Kimura, a professional wrestler and cast member on the then-popular Netflix reality show "Terrace House," committed suicide in 2020 after receiving a barrage of hateful messages on social media.

Many defamation victims have been seeking to have such posts promptly deleted before they can spread but have struggled to find a point of contact and say deletion rules are unclear.

The law also requires operators to notify people within a specified time frame whether posts will be deleted.

The legislation was approved by the House of Councillors on Friday after being passed by the House of Representatives on April 19.