• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, January 3, 2017

The fight against online stalking and bullying is getting some legal teeth in Japan, where the government has amended an existing anti-stalking law to make these behaviors criminal activities punishable with jail time, according to The Japan Times, which first reported the news. The country’s parliament adopted the amendment last year and it took effect in the New Year.

The amended version of the law criminalizes actions including sending messages repeatedly via social media to recipients who don’t want to receive them, as well as repeatedly commenting on blogs and social media accounts against their wishes. The previous version of the law only concerned stalking behavior carried out via e-mail.

Additionally, the revised law empowers prosecutors to bring charges against individuals who engage in online stalking even when the victim has declined to bring a criminal complaint, in recognition of the fact that some victims may feel intimidated into silence. It also doubles the maximum prison term for online stalking from six months to a year.

The law follows a big increase in reported incidents of online stalking, in which the victim is typically a teenage girl or young woman who is harassed by someone they meet on social media.

In some well-publicized cases the online stalking has led to actual violence. The amendment was prompted by an attack on Mayu Tomita, a 21-year-old pop singer who was almost stabbed to death by a male fan last May following repeated online harassment, including death threats. After the attack, Tomita criticized the police for failing to respond adequately to these warning signs, and the police publicly apologized to her.

It’s worth noting that the actions banned in the amended Japanese law may also fit the definition of cyber-bullying and “trolling.”