Ruling, Opposition Parties Submit Bills on Social Media Use

Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)–Six Japanese ruling and opposition parties jointly submitted bills on Wednesday to regulate the use of social media during elections, including obliging social media operators to take measures to reduce disinformation and other negative implications. The parties include the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, as well as four oppositions–the Centrist Reform Alliance, the Democratic Party for the People, Sanseito and Team Mirai. They plan to put the bills to a vote in the House of Representatives Special Committee on Political Reform on Thursday. The bills are expected to be enacted during the current Diet session. The bills would amend the public offices election law and the information distribution platform law. The internal affairs minister would establish guidelines for related measures, and social media operators would be required to annually report on their implementation. Meanwhile, social media users would be obligated to avoid undermining the fairness of elections by spreading misinformation or disinformation. Operators would also be required to clearly label videos and pictures generated by artificial intelligence. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]