A picture of wrestler Hana Kimura on display during a memorial wrestling match in Tokyo
(Picture: AP)Japan has imposed tougher penalties for defamation after a wrestler killed herself after being bullied online.
Hana Kimura, a professional wrestler who appeared in Netflix reality show Terrace House, killed herself at the age of 22 in May 2020.
Parliamentary deliberations on toughening the defamation law began in January after a public outcry following her death.
Kimura faced bullying and insults on social media in 2020 after appearing on “Terrace House,” a hugely popular reality show on Japan’s Fuji TV and Netflix, about three men and three women temporarily living together at a shared house in Tokyo.
She was targeted by hateful messages on social media after she was criticised for her performance in one of the episodes.
Before her suicide, she tweeted that she received about a hundred hateful messages every day and she was hurt by them.
Her death triggered a national debate about anonymous bullying and hateful messages.
Fuji TV canceled the rest of the planned production of the show following the tragic death.
At least two people were convicted of defaming Kimura, but their court-ordered penalty — a 9,000 yen (£55) fine — triggered outrage from people who said it was too lenient.
Kimura’s mother, Kyoko, also a famous professional wrestler, was a driving force behind the legal change.
She testified to parliament in April and said she has continuously faced insults and accusations of using her daughter’s name to make money.
The amended law will be formally enacted later this year. It will add a prison term of one year with an option of forced labour, and fines of up to 300,000 yen (£1,827) to convicted violators — a change from only short-term detention and fines of less than 10,000 yen (£60) in the current law.
The legislation was approved by the upper house on Monday after earlier passing in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.
Due to the free speech concerns, the law is scheduled to be reviewed by outside experts in three years.
