Internet Election Campaigns in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan by Shoko Kiyohara Kazuhiro Maeshima & Diana Owen

Author:Shoko Kiyohara, Kazuhiro Maeshima & Diana Owen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

United States

Free

21

6

10

5

Japan

Free

26

5

15

6

South Korea

Partly free

33

10

14

9

Taiwan

Free

26

9

9

8

Source: Freedom House (2016)

Intervention in Press Freedom (Japan)

Press freedom in Japan is “free” (Freedom House 2016). The Japanese constitution guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and there is no regulation on issuing newspapers; further, the Japanese Broadcast Act stipulates that television programs must be politically fair and MIC has the authority to issue broadcasting licenses to television stations. However, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications recently reiterated that the government has the right to shut down broadcasters that MIC judges to be politically biased, and this has raised concerns about the freedom of the press in the country (US Department of State 2017). Kisha kurabu (press clubs), which are organizations composed of journalists from major news companies, manage press conferences featuring members of government, politicians, and companies; they are often criticized for discriminating against freelancers and foreign reporters and for promoting self-censorship and a lack of diversity in the opinion market (Freedom House 2015; Reporters Without Borders 2017). In many cases, governments pay the press-room expenses of the kisya kurabu. In fact, many Japanese media companies tend to conduct self-censorship in order to avoid offending the government; in 2014, the NHK president remarked that NHK could not report anything that disagreed with the government, but this was disputed.

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