Data Privacy

Beyond the Spotlight: Online Harassment of Entertainers in Japan and the Legal Response

Japanese Attorney at Law - Bengoshi L.L.

• 6 min read
Slide summarising Japan’s response to online harassment of entertainers: civil/criminal tools, 2022 insult-penalty hike, new disclosure procedure and platform duties.

TL;DR

  • Entertainers are prime targets for online defamation, insults and coordinated “flaming” on SNS.
  • Victims rely on civil-tort suits and criminal law, but identifying anonymous posters and recovering damages remain hard.
  • 2022–24 reforms—higher insult penalties and a streamlined Provider Liability Act—plus policy pressure on digital platforms aim to improve redress and prevention.

Table of Contents

  • Entertainers in the Digital Arena: Visibility and Vulnerability
  • The SNS Environment: A Breeding Ground for Abuse?
  • Legal Frameworks Against Online Abuse
  • Hurdles to Effective Redress
  • Countermeasures: Shifting Towards Platform Responsibility and New Approaches
  • Conclusion

Entertainers in Japan, from actors and musicians to comedians and VTubers, command significant public attention. While this visibility is crucial for their careers, it also makes them frequent targets of online defamation (名誉毀損, meiyo kison), insults (侮辱, bujoku), and relentless harassment, particularly on social networking services (SNS). High-profile incidents, including tragic cases linked to cyberbullying, have underscored the severity of this issue and spurred discussions about legal protections and platform responsibilities. This post explores the challenges entertainers face online and the evolving legal landscape in Japan aimed at combating such abuse.

Entertainers in the Digital Arena: Visibility and Vulnerability

The relationship between entertainers (geinōjin, 芸能人) and the digital media environment is complex:

  • Prime Targets: Entertainers are particularly vulnerable to online attacks due to their public personas. Criticism, often extending beyond their professional work to their personal lives or appearance, is common. Fan culture can sometimes spill over into obsessive or abusive behavior, while anti-fans may engage in coordinated negative campaigns. There's also a lingering societal perception, noted in industry discussions, that public figures should simply endure harsh criticism or that their lives are fair game for public consumption, lowering the bar for acceptable online behavior towards them.
  • Influential Voices?: In theory, entertainers possess significant platforms to influence public opinion and contribute to democratic discourse. However, commentators observe a relative tendency towards political "silence" (kamoku) among many Japanese entertainers compared to their counterparts in some Western countries. This may stem from concerns about alienating audiences, pressure from agencies or sponsors who fear controversy, or direct experience with severe online backlash following political statements. This reluctance contrasts sharply with the role some TV personalities (terebi tarento) play as commentators (komentētā) on news and wide shows, where they often express opinions freely, sometimes controversially, on social and political issues within the perceived "safe space" of mainstream media.

The SNS Environment: A Breeding Ground for Abuse?

The nature of SNS platforms themselves can contribute to the problem:

  • Amplification of Extremity: Research suggests that online discourse, particularly on SNS, is often dominated by a small minority of highly vocal users, frequently holding extreme views. This "participation inequality" means that widespread outrage or criticism perceived by the target may, in reality, stem from a relatively small but highly active group. This dynamic makes entertainers susceptible to targeted "flaming" (enjō) or pile-ons that appear larger than they are.
  • Anonymity and Disinhibition: The perceived anonymity offered by many platforms can lower users' inhibitions, leading to behavior they wouldn't engage in offline.
  • Viral Dynamics: Platform algorithms designed to maximize engagement can inadvertently promote inflammatory or abusive content if it generates strong reactions.

Japanese law offers several avenues to address online defamation and harassment, although practical enforcement faces challenges:

  • Civil Liability (Torts): Victims can sue perpetrators for damages under the Civil Code (民法, Minpō) based on:
    • Defamation (Art. 709/710, 723): Publishing false statements of fact that lower a person's social reputation.
    • Insult (Art. 709/710): Publicly insulting someone without factual basis, exceeding socially acceptable limits.
    • Infringement of Honor Sentiment (Meiyo Kanjō Shingai): A judicially recognized tort covering insults that harm personal feelings of honor or self-esteem, even if not made publicly (e.g., via direct messages), provided they cross the threshold of social tolerance. This has been relevant in cases involving VTubers targeted through their avatars.
    • Privacy Invasion / Portrait Rights Infringement: If the abuse involves unauthorized disclosure of private information or misuse of likeness.
  • Criminal Liability: Certain acts constitute crimes under the Penal Code (刑法, Keihō):
    • Defamation (Art. 230).
    • Insult (Art. 231): Notably, the penalties for this crime were significantly increased in 2022 following public outcry over cyberbullying cases.
    • Threats (脅迫罪, Kyōhaku-zai, Art. 222): Applicable in cases of direct threats of harm.
  • Identifying Anonymous Posters: A crucial step for legal action is identifying anonymous abusers. The Act on the Limitation of Liability for Damages of Specified Telecommunications Service Providers and the Right to Demand Disclosure of Identification Information of the Senders (プロバイダ責任制限法, commonly called the Provider Liability Limitation Act) allows victims to petition courts to order platform operators and internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose identifying information (like IP addresses, names, addresses) of users who post illegal content. This Act was amended in 2021 (effective October 2022) to create a more streamlined, unified court procedure for obtaining disclosure orders.

Hurdles to Effective Redress

Despite these legal tools, victims, including entertainers, face significant obstacles:

  • Identification Challenges: The process for obtaining sender information, while streamlined, can still be complex, costly, and time-consuming. Perpetrators may use VPNs or other methods to obscure their identity.
  • Platform Cooperation: While major platforms operating in Japan generally comply with court orders, obtaining cooperation from some overseas platforms or smaller sites can be difficult.
  • Quantifying Damages: Assessing monetary compensation for reputational harm or emotional distress in defamation/insult cases remains challenging in Japanese courts, with awards often considered relatively low compared to some other jurisdictions.
  • The "Other Chilling Effect": Beyond the traditional "chilling effect" where fear of state censorship deters speech, online harassment creates another chilling effect. Victims may refrain from speaking out on controversial topics, engaging online, or even pursuing legal remedies due to the fear of provoking further, intensified attacks from anonymous online mobs. This silencing effect is particularly acute for entertainers whose public engagement is part of their livelihood.

Countermeasures: Shifting Towards Platform Responsibility and New Approaches

Recognizing the limitations of purely reactive legal measures, focus is shifting towards proactive solutions and platform governance:

  • Platform Social Responsibility: There's a growing international trend, reflected in discussions within Japanese government study groups (like the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' "Study Group on Platform Services"), to view large Digital Platform Operators (DPFs) not merely as neutral conduits but as entities with a social responsibility to mitigate the risks arising from the online environments they create and profit from. This moves beyond simply avoiding intermediary liability towards expecting proactive measures against illegal and harmful content.
  • Transparency and Swiftness: Recent Japanese policy discussions emphasize requiring DPFs to be more transparent about their content moderation rules, processes, and enforcement actions, and to act more swiftly in addressing illegal content upon notification.
  • Technological Interventions: Platforms are experimenting with technological solutions, such as prompts asking users to "Rethink" potentially harmful comments before posting, or features to automatically limit or hide excessive negative replies targeting an individual.
  • Rethinking Legal Categories?: Some commentators suggest that persistent, targeted online harassment campaigns might be more effectively addressed by focusing on the abusive pattern of conduct rather than just the content of individual messages. This draws parallels with anti-stalking laws. Japan's current Act on Regulation of Stalking Practices (ストーカー行為等の規制等に関する法律), however, is limited as it typically requires the harassment to stem from specific motivations like romantic obsession or resentment. Expanding legal frameworks to address persistent online targeting regardless of motive could be a future consideration, although constitutional free speech concerns would need careful balancing.
  • Industry Collaboration: Collective action within affected industries can also play a role. The joint statement by two major VTuber agencies in 2022, pledging cooperation on countermeasures against harassment targeting their performers, is one example of industry players recognizing the shared threat.

Conclusion

Online abuse directed at entertainers is a serious problem in Japan, inflicting significant emotional and reputational harm and potentially silencing valuable voices. While Japanese law provides avenues for redress through defamation, insult, and privacy claims, and mechanisms exist to identify anonymous perpetrators, practical challenges remain. The evolving discourse increasingly emphasizes the social responsibilities of major platforms to foster safer online environments through greater transparency and swifter action against harmful content. Addressing this complex issue effectively will likely require a multifaceted approach combining improved platform governance, potential legal adjustments perhaps focusing more on harmful conduct patterns, continued industry cooperation, and ongoing efforts to promote digital citizenship and respect online.