Two pieces of legislation that could restrict the media's freedom of activities are being debated in the Diet. One bill lays out ground rules for protecting personal data. The other, designed to protect human rights, would create a human rights commission affiliated with the Justice Ministry.
The government attaches great importance to the personal data bill, as it does to the emergency security legislation that is also under parliamentary debate. The Japan Newspapers Publishers and Editors Association (Shinbun Kyokai) and other media groups have issued a statement that the bill could open the way for government interference with the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
Indeed, the bill is fraught with problems. The Diet should leave no stone unturned to devise an acceptable system for personal data protection. For that purpose, this measure should be drastically revised. It should perhaps even be abolished and a new bill written.