Japan's parliament enacted a law on Wednesday to establish a simpler court procedure to help victims of cyberbullying in seeking to identify individuals who made defamatory posts online.
The House of Councillors unanimously passed a bill to revise the current law on internet service providers in response to growing calls to tackle online abuse, particularly after last year's death of Hana Kimura, a cast member of the popular Netflix reality show "Terrace House," who was bullied on social media.
Under the revised law, expected to take effect by fall next year, cyberbullying victims can now go through only one court proceeding to identify individuals who make hateful posts online, saving them time and costs related to such requests.
At present, people in general must go through at least two court proceedings — one against social media operators and the other against internet service providers to obtain information on their harassers.
The law stipulates that login records of online harassers will now be subjected to disclosure. Currently, their names and postal addresses can be disclosed.
The government submitted the bill to the Diet session in February.
