You can get up to a year in prison for insults on the Internet in Japan

Starting on Thursday, individuals convicted of “online insults” will be punished by up to a year in jail under a new law that took effect earlier this summer in Japan. Individuals fined for online insults may also be sentenced to up to 300,000 yen (just over $2,200). Previously, the penalty was less than 30 days in prison and up to 10,000 yen ($75). The legislation will be revisited after three years to see whether it has an impact on freedom of speech — a worry raised by critics of the bill. Supporters said it was important to curb cyberbullying in Japan.

Japanese lawmakers passed the bill with no firm understanding of what constitutes an insult, according to Seiho Cho, a criminal lawyer in Japan. The law specifies that an insult refers to someone being demeaned without providing any information about them; this is opposed to defamation, which it classifies as demeaning someone while pointing out a certain fact about them. “Even if someone calls the leader of Japan an idiot under the new legislation, it may be considered an insult because of the revised law's definition of 'insult,'” Cho added.

Following the suicide death of Hana Kimura, a reality television star who was subjected to internet bullying, Japanese officials pushed for a ban on cyberbullying. Following her mother's call for more anti-cyberbullying regulations, her father lobbied for one. According to some studies, there is a link between suicidal thoughts and cyberbullying; however, most research has been conducted on children and teenagers.

The United Kingdom has legislation against "grossly offensive" public statements, and individuals have been charged and fined for tweets. The language in its guidelines is also open to interpretation, and courts must determine whether a statement is "extremely" or "totally" offensive on a case-by-case basis.