Japan’s parliament passed a bill on June 13 that makes online insults a crime punishable by jail time, following calls for harsher punishment spurred by the suicide of a female wrestler who was cyberbullied.
The bill, approved by the upper house of a plenary session, amends Japan’s penal code to include one-year imprisonment and fines of up to 300,000 yen ($2,234), as opposed to the current 30 days in jail and 10,000 yen ($75) fine.
The amended law will take effect later this year, local media Kyodo News reported, although it remains unclear to what extent an insult will be considered punishable under the new legislation….