The Hyogo Prefectural Assembly plans to ask the national government to take measures against online slander and misinformation, after such problems were reported during the prefecture's gubernatorial election this autumn.

The assembly is considering adopting a resolution at a regular session in December calling for a revision to the Public Offices Election Act to prevent damage via social media. The move comes after an assembly committee set up to investigate allegations of power abuse by Gov. Motohiko Saito was attacked online. In the attacks, the process of panel inquiries was targeted with derogatory and misleading comments on social media and other platforms during and after the gubernatorial race.

The assembly's factions are listing specific problems seen during the gubernatorial race, including online defamation and the fact that the X (formerly Twitter) accounts of a candidate were frozen, and will summarize them on Nov. 26. They aim to adopt a unanimous resolution on Dec. 13.

In commenting on the gubernatorial contest where slander and baseless information flooded social media, Kazunori Kawamura, a political science associate professor at Tohoku University who is versed in the Public Offices Election Act, pointed out, "Elections have become a form of 'content' to earn money through ad revenue and other means amid the widespread use of the internet. A mechanism where users can profit if they keep making impressive posts and boost views has been established. It is necessary to discuss the form of electoral campaigns on the internet."

As for cases where a candidate backs another candidate in the same election or uses stump speeches to attack other politicians, Kawamura said, "It is difficult to draw a line from the perspective of the freedom of expression." He continued, "Election management commissions and the police should proactively warn people whose behavior is suspected to have deviated from the spirit of the law. Instead of making new regulations, it would be more realistic to adopt effective approaches to deter (such activities)."

(Japanese original by Takuhide Nakao, Kobe Bureau, and Yukina Furukawa, Osaka City News Department)