TOKYO
Japan’s parliament on Monday enacted a law tightening rules on social media use in elections, seeking to maintain fairness by prohibiting the spread of false information about candidates and obligating platform operators to limit its impact.
With the increasing use of social media in politics, concerns remain about the effectiveness of the measures, as platform operators will not face any penalties for failing to comply with the new measures outlined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
The cross-party law aims to counter fake online information during election campaigns while protecting freedom of expression and ensuring the availability of accurate information.
The government aims to enforce the changes by March 1, 2027, ahead of unified local elections in the spring, expected to be the next major democratic event on Japan’s political calendar.
The bill, submitted by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, and four opposition parties, passed the House of Councillors.
The changes to the public offices election law and the law on information distribution platforms will also require users to indicate when they have posted images or videos that have been created or modified using artificial intelligence.
The proposed revisions state that internet users must not spread false information about candidates or distort facts in a way that undermines fairness in an election.
The revisions come amid concerns over the potential distorting effect on Japanese elections of social media, seen as an increasingly important element in campaigning. Pundits say social media strategy played a part in the LDP’s landslide victory in the February election under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
The communications ministry will set guidelines for measures by platform operators, with annual disclosures on implementation.
A supplementary resolution accompanying the law urges the ministry to set out example measures, including suspending monetization, giving priority to information from trustworthy sources such as official websites, and displaying warning notices to users.
Internet users who post election-related images or videos that were created or altered using AI must indicate that the content was generated or modified with AI.