Politicians Drop Off The Grid

It's election season in Japan, and for its numerous politicians this means riding in noisy trucks, and no more internet. As of Tuesday, all Japanese politicians were mandated by law to cease and desist all blogging, twittering, and internet updates otherwise. The Asahi Tribune has written up an article that addresses the myriad reasons why this is a genuinely terrible idea here. The internet and its myriad means of communication are not specifically targeted by the legislation, but there are general "restrictions on the use of images and literature". It is clear how this general law naturally extends to the internet.

This 59 year old pre-internet law is beginning to show its age. Originally, the purpose of the legislation was to ensure that individials with greater fiscal resources would compete equally and fairly against those with less. In a world where the internet allows free and equivalent communication by all, this particular law, though well intentioned, has fallen into obsolescence.

Furthermore, it is a disservice to young voters that have been immersed in internet technologies all their lives. For those that are used to receiving their information via the internet medium, they are clearly being dissuaded from participating in the national discussion. Hopefully, this law will be amended to allow polticians the use of the most equitable medium we have today - the internet.

FMI: http://www.itworld.com/legal/74834/day-blogging-stopped