Parties remain apart on social media rules for elections
During a television debate Saturday, senior officials of ruling and opposition parties broadly agreed on the need to regulate election misinformation on social media, but were far apart over specific measures.
"We first need to use existing laws and regulations, such as the public offices election law and the Penal Code," Ichiro Aisawa, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, said. "It is very important to clarify the responsibilities of social media service providers."
Noting that people may vote based on what they read on social media, even when accuracy is unknown, Hiroshi Ogushi, executive deputy president of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said that "it is necessary to introduce regulations in light of the links between social media and elections."
Hitoshi Aoyagi, policy chief of opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai, agreed, saying, "Freedom of expression does not mean that anything is allowed."
Hirotaka Ishikawa, secretary-general of Komeito in the House of Councillors, said, "It is very important to strike a balance between the enhancement of regulations and freedom of expression."
Meanwhile, Motohisa Furukawa, acting leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said, "We should be cautious about (social media) regulations at this point."
"Social media has the advantage of reducing the distance between politics and voters," he said, suggesting that the government should first ask related businesses to take countermeasures.
Satoshi Inoue, the Japanese Communist Party's secretary-general in the Upper House, said, "We should put efforts into ensuring that people's voices are accurately reflected in politics by guaranteeing suffrage and freedom of expression."
Akiko Oishi, co-leader of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an opposition party, said there have been cases in which derogatory information was spread by those with abundant financial resources. "We should establish an appropriate legal framework," she added.
The TV debate took place as the country marked Constitution Day on Saturday.
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