Evolving Legal Norms Regarding Hate Speech in Japan

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

We propose this panel that discusses a current hate speech situation in Japan for two reasons: First, we believe that Japan can provide a unique context to study how norms towards hate speech develop and take root in a society. Second, we trust that our papers can provide examples of a sound empirical study of people’s attitudes towards hate speech.
The Japanese government introduced a hate speech prevention law in 2016 for the first time, partly to cope with the increasing concerns about the rise of hate speech activities targeting certain people with specific national backgrounds in Japan, and also in response to the accumulating pressure from the international community. The so-called “principle law” lacks a penalty clause against possible offenses, and therefore, some critics doubt its effectiveness. It, however, has provided some legal bases for local governments to prescribe ordinances and regulations with some enforcement procedures embedded. These municipalities are in the midst of defining what consists of “hate speech” because it is the very first step in “dealing with” the concrete cases of vicious activities.
The ordinary Japanese citizens, too, suddenly started to be exposed to the concept of hate speech. In the two national newspapers that we reviewed, for example, there had not been any articles that included the word “hate speech” until 2013. In other words, before 2012, people had hardly been familiar with the concept of hate speech.
Another evidence suggests that the common understanding of hate speech in Japan is yet to been established. According to the two web-surveys we conducted in 2018 and 2019, adding the word “hate speech” in describing the act of hate speech boosts respondents’ support for the stricter control against such actions. The results suggest that the concept of hate speech has not been fully internalized in the minds of the Japanese people.
The above points all lead to the conclusion that the Japanese have been less prejudiced or less predisposed in forming their opinions on hate speech regulations, which makes Japan an ideal case for an investigation about the formation of social norms about hate speech.
We also have particularly been careful about the methodologies in our projects. Our attempt to understand the public attitude towards hate speech naturally is not the first such effort in Japan. The Japanese government, for example, has been conducting a series of public opinion surveys regarding human rights protection. It added, for the first time, a set of questions about hate speech in 2017. This governmental survey caught much attention when it revealed that a majority of the Japanese was aware of hate speech activities. The figure, however, is based on subjective responses. The respondents who claimed “to have been aware” of such events, may have never actually witnessed the discriminatory expression. Given the importance of the issue at stake, any empirical studies regarding hate speech must meet the highest standards of scientific rigor.
This panel features three papers, all of which deal with hate speech situation in Japan, but each examines a different aspect of the complex nature of the problem with theoretical implications generalizable outside of Japan. Kohno, Kim and Hirose, following the discussion initiated by Jeremy Waldron, explore the intricate relationship between the two justifications of hate speech regulation, i.e., “undermining dignity” and “causing offense.” They claim that the Japanese case reveals solid and unambiguous behavioral foundations for dignity-based regulations. Murakami and Nishizawa investigate the role of information about social norms in shaping people’s policy preferences about hate speech regulation and speculate that the anti-discrimination standard has not yet been established in Japan. Kim and Ogawa discuss the political factors in the diffusion of hate speech on Twitter, and they confirm the importance of the role of political figures and that of international events in influencing the average level of hate speech threshold. The first two papers use the web-based experimental surveys, with samples of over 5,000 respondents each, specifically designed to access respondents’ attitudes towards hate speech and governmental roles in regulating it. The third paper employs a “natural experiment” approach taking advantage of the two real incidences that took place in 2017 in Japan.
This panel is chaired and discussed by the three specialists on public opinion, race and ethnicity, political communication, freedom of speech and comparative study of hate speech issues. The panel, therefore, will stimulate a discussion about hate speech, not only among Japan specialists but also in the international research community.

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Japan Political Studies Group

Individual Presentations

• An Experimental Study on Public Support for Hate Speech Regulations - Masaru Kohno, Waseda University; Hae Kim, Chiba University; Kentaro Hirose, Waseda University

• Following the Norm or Following the Crowds? - Go Murakami, Ritsumeikan University; Yoshitaka Nishizawa, Doshisha University

• The Impact of Politicians’ Behaviors on Hate Speech Diffusion on Twitter - Taehee Kim, University of Oldenburg; Yuki Ogawa, Retsumeikan University

• Belief in Conspiracy Theories and Socio-Political Identity in Japan - Airo Hino, Waseda University; Robert Andrew Fahey, Waseda University; Stefano Camatarri, Université catholique de Louvain

Chair

• Stuart N. Soroka University of Michigan

Discussants

• Gill Steel Doshisha University

• Erik J. Bleich Middlebury College