The Professional Liability Act was replaced by the Information and Personal Information Protection Act (May 5th).

Following discussions at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Platform Study Group, of which I was a member, the revised "Provider Liability Limitation Act" was submitted to the Diet in March.¹Renamed "Information and Plastics Act"²However, on May 5, just before the fourth anniversary of Hana Kimura's death (May 23), the law was passed by the Diet. The name of the law was changed because "it now goes beyond the disclosure of information about the senders of posts."³.

The bill and other related documents are as follows:⁴.

Reiwa 6/3/1

Bill to amend the Act on Limitation of Liability for Damages of Specified Telecommunications Service Providers and Disclosure of Identification Information of the Caller

Overview[325 KB] Outline[97 KB] Bill and Reasons[160 KB] Comparison of old and new provisions[254 KB] References[310 KB] 　(Name of department in charge) Telecommunications Business Department, Telecommunications Environment Division, Telecommunications Bureau

In response to the recent increase in damage caused by the distribution of infringing information on social media, etc., this amendment aims to strengthen the responsibility of platform operators and protect victims. Large-scale platform operators will now be obligated to delete such content, and penalties will be imposed for any violations.

The main changes are as follows:

1. The title and nickname of the law have been changed. The new title is as above, and the nickname is now the "Act on Information Distribution Platforms (Information Distribution Platform Act)."
2. The fifth chapter, "Obligations of Large-Scale Specified Telecommunications Service Providers," has been newly established. This imposes obligations on platform operators of a certain size or larger to take measures to prevent the distribution of infringing information.
3. Chapter 6, "Penalties," has been newly established. Penalties for breach of obligations have been established.
4. The number of articles has doubled from 19 to 38.

About the Study Group on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Platform

Study Group on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications PlatformThis is a study group that has been held a total of 30 times over six years since October 2018, 10.Final ReportThe committee was supposed to have concluded its investigation, but it was urgently reconvened in response to the slanderous comments and suicide of Hana Kimura. Since then, it has been examining the issue from various angles, including freedom of speech.Platform Study Group overview pageYou can see the minutes summary here and the documents below.

• Call for opinions on how to deal with slander on the Internet (July 2, 7)
• Urgent proposals on how to deal with slander on the Internet and announcement of results of public comments
• Press release regarding the call for comments on the interim report (draft) (July 3, 7)
• Press release regarding the results of the public comment period on the interim report (draft) and publication of the interim report (September 3, 9)
• Press release regarding the call for comments on the second compilation (draft) (July 4, 7)
• Press release regarding the results of the public comment period on the second compilation (draft) and the publication of the second compilation (August 4, 8)
• Press release regarding the call for opinions on the Third Summary (draft) (December 5, 12)
• Press release regarding the results of the public comment period on the Third Summary (draft) and the publication of the Third Summary (February 6, 2)

The 52nd meeting (January 6, 1) was the final meeting this year, and the third summary was announced and closed. The current legal reform is based on this third summary.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and its secretariat for consolidating the difficult discussions that led to the amendment of the law. I am also very pleased that I was able to contribute, however small, to this matter.

1. "Act on Limitation of Liability for Damages of Specified Telecommunications Service Providers and Disclosure of Identification Information of the Caller"
2. "Act on dealing with infringement of rights arising from the distribution of information through specified telecommunications" (commonly known as the "Information Distribution Platform Act" (Information Platform Act))
3. From the Liberal Democratic Party website:
4. (Reprinted from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications website. The link will probably disappear soon...)