TOKYO -- The increasing prevalence of sexually explicit internet advertisements has become a source of growing concern in Japan, with opposition lawmakers pushing for stricter measures to prevent the ads from being seen by children. However, governmental bodies including the Children and Families Agency and the Digital Agency say they are "not in a position to oversee this issue," highlighting the ambiguity over which government organ is responsible for their regulation.

The issue took center stage during a March 18 session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee, brought up by Democratic Party for the People lawmaker and upper house Diet affairs committee chair Takae Ito.

"These explicit advertisements continue to appear, not only on cooking websites and gaming strategy pages, but even on tablets distributed at schools," Ito said. "People throughout Japan are voicing concern and anger, asking, 'How long is the government planning to leave this problem unattended?'"

Ito suggested "zoning," an approach intended to block these explicit advertisements from appearing on websites that children access frequently.

In response, education minister Toshiko Abe said the government would "accelerate efforts to thoroughly implement internet filtering to restrict access." However, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiichiro Murakami admitted the inherent limitations of such filtering, noting, "If the website linked to by advertisements doesn't fall under the 'adult' category, it's impossible to block views (through filtering alone)."

The discussions revealed a fundamental difficulty in government regulation of explicit online content: There is no clearly designated ministry or agency responsible for the oversight of sexually explicit online advertisements.

Ito pressed five Cabinet ministers -- from the Children and Families Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Digital Agency, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology -- to clarify jurisdiction on the matter. Each minister responded ambiguously. Junko Mihara, the minister in charge of children's policies, acknowledged frankly, "We are not in a position to oversee regulations of adult advertisements themselves," underscoring a systemic lack of clarity regarding official responsibility.

Ito criticized the lack of responsibility, saying, "Policy progress is impossible under these conditions. Please clearly establish jurisdiction over the regulation of these ads."

The government's reticence in taking effective action largely stems from concerns that stricter oversight could potentially conflict with freedom of expression provisions under Japan's Constitution.

While Murakami pointed out, "Some sexually explicit advertisements indeed contain information that severely hinders (children's) sound development," he acknowledged challenges, saying, "There exist constitutional limits, including a certain degree of freedom of expression."

Yet Ito referenced the European Union's Digital Services Act, which has already incorporated provisions for the protection of minors and imposed advertising regulations. Mihara responded that the government would "conduct necessary research into other countries' initiatives, challenges and legal frameworks," adding a pledge to "take on the function of a command center" on the matter.

Meanwhile, parliamentary deliberations triggered spirited discussions and debate on X (formerly Twitter), with strong arguments emerging both for and against tighter controls. Some citizens have expressed frustration in comments such as, "Explicit ads even appear on tablets in schools. It's abnormal," and, "The fragmented, vertically compartmentalized administration is endangering children, leaving explicit advertising completely unchecked."

Conversely, opponents of stricter oversight including Taro Yamada, a House of Councillors member from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, caution against overreach. Yamada said, "If we call on authorities to regulate something merely because it's discomforting or unpleasant, we will be effectively negating freedom of expression altogether."

(Japanese original by Shu Furukawa, Tokyo Business News Department)