Japan Sets 1-Year Prison Sentence For Making Online Insults
June 15, 2022 4:16PM EDT
Being an online troll in Japan can now take cyberbullies offline for at least a year.
An amendment made to Japan’s penal code this week increases the penalty for insulting others online to a minimum of one year in prison and a maximum fine of 300,000 yen — or about $2,236 in U.S. money. The new law also increases the statute of limitations — the amount of time prosecutors have to charge a person — from one year to three.
The passage of the law, which goes into effect this summer, comes two years after 22-year-old reality star Hana Kimura was driven to suicide by cyberbullies.
If someone dies as a result of a cyberbully’s actions, should the cyberbully be charged in that person’s death?
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