The Japanese government should consider unmasking those who post libelous, slanderous, or other damaging statements on the Internet, an official study of the issue says - a breach of the nation's constitutional guarantee of privacy of personal communications.
The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry report issued late last week and reported by the Kyodo news agency said that incidents in which email, newsgroups, chat rooms, and Web homepages have been used to defame private citizens or make public other sensitive information warrant reconsideration of privacy rights.
Internet service providers, citing the constitution's guarantees, have generally refused to identify posters of information challenged as libel or slander. And at least one has paid the price for taking such a position. Last May, Nifty Corp., the country's largest ISP, was ordered to pay ¥500,000 (US$4,200) to a woman who said false information about her was posted on one of its online forums. The company never identified the poster.
Kyodo said the panel's report argued that "even though such senders have the right to secrecy of communication, there is no reason why we should believe that they must take precedence over the need to protect the interests of other persons." The document concluded that the government should consider creating a means of disclosure by which senders of such information can be identified in accordance with appropriate procedures.
