A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker has indicated that under a bill now being debated, large groups of people who shouted for U.S. military forces in Okinawa Prefecture to get out of Japan might find themselves accused of engaging in hate speech.

Takashi Nagao, a Lower House member from Osaka Prefecture, spoke in a video address on YouTube earlier this month. The LDP-backed bill's provisional name translates roughly as "The Bill to Promote Measures for the Elimination of Unjust Racial Statements Toward People From Outside Japan."

It apparently aims to protect people who were born in other countries and their descendants who live legally in Japan, and people who hold to other regions, from discriminatory comments.