Which country bans election candidates from updating homepages and blogs during an election campaign?

By Mark Pack | Tue 25th November 2008 - 8:50 am

It’s been a democracy for over 50 years.

60% of its population has access to high speed broadband.

More blogs are written in its native language than in any other language.

And the country is … Japan, where:

Once an official campaign has started, candidates are barred from updating their home pages, launching or amending blogs—podcasts are allowed because the law applies only to text or images—posting political statements or sending text messages to mobile phones. Additional regulations prohibit donors from using credit cards online to support candidates, effectively preventing online fundraising.

But things are starting to change:

Politicians have begun discovering the power of YouTube and similar sites as ways of generating buzz. During recent municipal elections in Tokyo and Osaka, some Web enthusiasts used video-sharing sites to post videos of candidates’ speeches even during campaigning. Other Netizens updated the Wikipedia pages of certain candidates in defiance of the ban. The police sent warnings to offenders, but no arrests were made.

You can read more over on the Newsweek website.

Read more by Mark Pack or more about japan.
This entry was posted in Online politics.

3 Comments

Huw Dawson 25th Nov '08 - 11:06am

Typo in the title!

Very odd of Japan – the most technologically insane nation on the planet – to limit the impact of the internet on the political scene. Maybe it is to try and control the scene to make it more fair?
Anonymous 25th Nov '08 - 11:19am

“Maybe it is to try and control the scene to make it more fair?”

Probably the opposite. Internet is a relatively cheap way to make yourself heard, so if it is banned, only the more expensive old media is available, and probably only the candidates of the big parties can afford to advertise in old media.
Mark Pack 25th Nov '08 - 11:55am

Thanks Huw.