Insulting while playing video games could face up to a year in jail in Japan

There is jail time for online insults to deal with cyberbullying in Asian country.

this cyberbullying and insults The issues read and heard while playing video games online are something that both industry and society need to sort out in some way. Many companies are acting on user complaints, but in Japan, the birthplace of the video game, they’re taking it a step further.

If you insult online in Asian country, as we read on CNN Could cost up to a year in jail. This is a law that does not only target video games, but includes all forms of harassment through social networks and systems that connect a few people.

It will be evaluated within three years whether it affects freedom of expression.As part of efforts to reduce such cases in the country, a change to prison terms of up to one year has been approved and the Penal Code has revised fines upwards. Now those who insult on the Internet Get a fine of up to 300,000 yen (2,166 euros)The statute of limitations for defamation was increased from one year to three years.

“The application of heavier penalties shows legal consideration. cyberbullying is a crime that needs to be taken seriouslyand acts as a deterrent,” said Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa, motivated by the fact that actress Hana Kimura committed suicide in 2020 after receiving so much hate on the networks.

The biggest contradiction so far is what is meant by insult, because the law simply states that insult means to humiliate someone without any specific truth about that person. This regulation will be reassessed to determine whether it affects freedom of expression in three years, something that greatly worries the most critical industry.