The day the blogging stopped

18.08.2009
On Tuesday, 1,370 Japanese stopped blogging and Twittering. There's perhaps nothing unusual about that; after all, hundreds give up social media efforts every day. But for these people the halt to their online activities has been brought on by the law.

No, they haven't done anything wrong. But they are candidates in Japan's upcoming national election, and with the official 12-day campaigning window now underway, online communication is off-limits.

It's the result of a 59-year-old election law that has failed to keep up with the times. In an era when politicians are turning to the Internet to interact with potential voters and mobilize a support base -- something demonstrated so vividly by U.S. President Obama in his election campaign -- Japanese politicians are restricted to stump speeches, leaflets and posters, and even those are regulated too.

"Today is the beginning of campaigning. I must end Twitter today, I feel it's unreasonable," wrote , a lawmaker from the northern island of Hokkaido, to his 6,361 followers on Twitter.

The Public Offices Election Law doesn't specifically ban use of the Internet, but it does place restrictions on the use of literature and images in campaigning, and that has been interpreted by all to include the Internet.

The result is that during election campaigns in Japan, the airwaves are not filled with political commercials and streets are not covered in posters. Election billboards, with a space allotted to each candidate for an 83cm-by-58cm poster, are erected throughout cities, and candidates are allowed to distribute only a limited number of posters. Leaflets must be counted and numbered.